Central America Facing Globalisation and Integration

Abstract

This is a lecture given by the author, one of the most important experts in economy and integration in Central America, at the “Regional Conference on Integration and Development of Central America in the XXI century” (Conferencia regional sobre la integración y el desarrollo de Centroamérica en el siglo XXI) which took place at the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica [BCIE]) in Tegucigalpa in July, 2001. After denouncing the general syndrome evident in the process of Central American integration, consisting of an increasing division between words and deeds, the author named four facts that explain this split: the difficult and complex political transition of the countries concerned; their gradual adaptation to global economy; the lack of more decisive political support for the institutions for Central American integration; the encouragement or boosts that arrive from the outside world today tend to be greater. Then six concrete proposals are given pointing towards binding the development of each country to its process of integration.