Central American Integration System

The Central American Integration System

The Central American Integration System, or SICA, is a group of countries in Central America that work together. It started on 1 February 1993. The countries want to help each other with peace, political freedom, democracy and economic development. The main office is in San Salvador, El Salvador.

First, SICA had Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Later, Belize joined in 1998. The Dominican Republic joined SICA in 2004. Many other places, like Mexico, Chile and Brazil, also work with SICA as friends.

SICA helps countries work together. They want to make it easy to travel between countries, like moving within one big home. They also want to help trade grow and make life better for everyone.

SICA has a special group called the Central American Parliament. This group helps bring peace to the area. The Central American Court of Justice helps solve problems between countries.

Many organizations help SICA. These include the Central American Bank for Economic Integration and the Central American Common Market. All these groups work to make Central America a friendly place where countries help each other.