Central American Integration System

The Central American Integration System (Spanish: Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana, or SICA) has been the economic and political organization of Central American states since 1 February 1993. It began when the ODECA countries (Spanish: Organización de Estados Centroamericanos) signed the Protocol of Tegucigalpa on 13 December 1991. This agreement expanded earlier efforts to work together for regional peace, political freedom, democracy and economic development. The main office of SICA is located in El Salvador.

Originally, SICA included Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Later, Belize joined in 1998. The Dominican Republic became connected to SICA in 2004 and a full member in 2013. Other countries like Mexico, Chile and Brazil joined as observers, along with places such as the Republic of China, Spain, Germany, Georgia and Japan. SICA often works with the United Nations General Assembly and has offices at UN Headquarters.

Four countries—Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua—created a group called the Central America Four or CA-4. They made their borders easier to cross and use the same kind of passport. Later, Belize, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic also joined this group to help their economies grow together.

History

See also: History of Central America, Puebla-Panama Plan, and Mesoamerican region

First Central American Court of Justice

In late 1907, five Central American countries—Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua—met in Washington, D.C., with help from Mexico and the United States. They agreed to create a special court called the Central American Court of Justice. This court had five judges, one from each country, and it was supposed to last ten years. It operated from Costa Rica until 1918, when it closed because of problems like not having clear rules and judges being too close to their governments.

Organization of Central American States

After World War II, these same countries wanted to work more closely together. In 1951, they formed a group called the Organization of Central American States (ODECA) to help each other. They made changes to their rules in 1952 to create a new court that would last forever. In 1960, the five countries set up a common market and a bank to help with trade and economic growth. But during a war between Honduras and El Salvador in 1969, work on this stopped, and ODECA stopped meeting for a while.

Revival

In 1991, the Central American Integration System (SICA) was created to help solve problems between Central American countries. It was supported by the United Nations in 1993. SICA includes seven Central American countries and the Dominican Republic. These countries work together through groups like the Central American Parliament and a bank for economic help. They also signed a treaty in 1993 to make trade easier between them.

Expulsions and rejections

Some countries asked SICA to remove Nicaragua and not allow Russia to join because of actions during the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Members and observers

Member states

Regional observers

• Argentina
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Colombia
• Ecuador
• Haiti
• Mexico
• Peru
• United States
• Uruguay

Extra-regional observers

• Australia
• Egypt
• European Union
• France
• Georgia
• Germany
• Greece
• Holy See
• Italy
• Japan
• South Korea
• Morocco
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Order of Malta
• Qatar
• Russia
• Serbia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Taiwan
• Turkey
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom

Economic integration

The Central American Bank for Economic Integration has not created a shared currency, but some places use the US Dollar, calling it the "Central American Peso." This means it is treated the same as the US Dollar for official reasons. Central America is working to grow its economy and bring its countries closer together in many ways. While there are many differences between the countries, they are trying to improve trade and cooperation among themselves.

Policy integration

The parliamentary body has ideas to make air travel between countries feel like travel within one country. They also want to remove extra charges when people make phone calls in different countries. Another idea is to set up a special court, connected to the Central American Court of Justice, to help with serious crimes that affect more than one country.

Headquarters

The Central American Integration System, or SICA, has its main office in San Salvador, El Salvador. This is where the group handles its work to help Central American countries work together.

Institutions

Central American Parliament

Main article: Central American Parliament

The Central American Parliament, called Parlacen, started as a group to help bring peace to Central America. It grew from an earlier effort called the Contadora Group, which tried to solve problems in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua during the 1980s. Although the Contadora Group stopped working in 1986, many countries still believe in working together. The Esquipulas Peace Agreement decided to create a Central American Parliament with elected members from each country. However, Costa Rica did not join and is not part of Parlacen.

Central American Court of Justice

The Central American Court of Justice aims to help keep peace and unity among the countries in the region. The court can hear cases between countries, between a country and someone living there, and about how countries work together. In 2005, it decided that some changes made by Nicaragua about controlling important resources were not allowed. By July 2005, the court had made 70 decisions since it started in 1994.

Organizations

Here are some important groups that work together to help Central American countries cooperate and support each other.

• Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica, BCIE)
• Central American Common Market (CACM; Mercado Común Centroamericano, MCCA)
• Central American Court of Justice (CCJ)
• Central American Armed Forces Conference (Conferencia de las Fuerzas Armadas Centroamericanas, CFAC)
• Central American Parliament (Parlamento Centroamericano, PARLACEN)
  • Plenum
  • Board of Parliament
  • Secretariat
• President's Summit
  • Comité Consultivo (CC-SICA)
  • Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs
  • Executive Committee (CE-SICA)
  • Vice President's Summit
  • Secretariat General (SG-SICA)
• Central American Educational and Cultural Cooperation (CECC)