Central American presidents: 'No peace without development.' (economic summit)Central American Central America A region of southern North America extending from the southern border of Mexico to the northern border of Colombia. It separates the Caribbean Sea from the Pacific Ocean and is linked to South America by the Isthmus of Panama. Presidents: 'No peace without development' "There can be no peace without development", the five Central American Presidents declared at their first economic summit, held in the old colonial city of Antigua, Guatemala (15-17 June). With the regional peace process gaining momentum and the economic reconstruction Economic Reconstruction refers to a process for creating a proactive vision of economic change. The basic idea is that problems in the economy such as deindustrialization, environmental decay, outsourcing, industrial incompetence, poverty and addiction to a permanent war economy of the region becoming a matter of increasing concern, the Presidents reaffirmed a principle already stated at their historical 1987 summit in Esquipulas, Guatemala. Reflecting the political change of guard in the region, the nine-page Antigua Declaration and the 17-point Central American Economic Plan of Action (A/44/958) were signed by Presidents Rafael Angel Calderon Fournier of Costa Rica Costa Rica (kŏs`tə rē`kə), officially Republic of Costa Rica, republic (2005 est. pop. 4,016,000), 19,575 sq mi (50,700 sq km), Central America. , Alfredo Cristiani-Burkard of El Salvador El Salvador (ĕl sälväthōr`), officially Republic of El Salvador, republic (2005 est. pop. 6,705,000), 8,260 sq mi (21,393 sq km), Central America. , Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arevalo of Guatemala, Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero was born on 14 November 1943 in Tegucigalpa in Honduras, and was the President of Honduras from January 27 1990 to January 27 1994, representing the National Party of Honduras (PNH). of Honduras and Violeta Barrios Barrios is a name of Hispanic origin. The name may refer to: Persons
"War and violence are acts of human cruelty, but poverty is an act of human abandonment...", the Declaration states. Convinced "that peace is inseparable from social justice and that full democracy cannot be consolidated in Central America so long as hunber and poverty exist, we undertake to promote development which, today, is the new name of peace", the Presidents affirmed. The Plan of Action calls for the process of regional integration and development to start "as quickly as possible". Before the end of the year, each country will prepare a list of projects to rebuild the physical infrastructure--transport corridors, communications, customs, ports and electrical power. A regional programme will then be formulated. Also, by the end of September, each country will prepare a coordianted agricultural policy, present proposals toward the regional co-ordination of foreign trade and promote programmes to minimize the short-term impact of economic adjustment on the most unprotected groups. A regional science and technology policy and programme will be designed before the end of the year. Economic adjustment programmes and industrial reconversion Reconversion A method used by individuals to minimize the tax burden of converting by recharacterizing Roth IRA-converted amounts back to a Traditional IRA and then converting these assets back to a Roth IRA again. policies will also be coordinated. In July, a Central American consultation and coordiantion forumk on external debt is expected to be set up. |
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