Tropical Storm Brings Hitherto Elusive Unity

By JUANITA DARLING

Dec. 30, 1998 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SAN SALVADOR —

In the midst of tropical storm Mitch’s wet farewell to Central America last month, the region’s trade officials defied flooded roads and stormy skies to meet here and work out final details of a free-trade agreement.

Less than a week later, their presidents gathered here to reach a consensus on how to confront the aftermath of the region’s deadliest natural disaster in two centuries, coming to an agreement on a common course before formally consulting potential aid donors.

Then, during a recent meeting with creditor banks and nations, five Central American countries presented a joint plan for regional reconstruction, all pressing for debt forgiveness for impoverished Nicaragua and Honduras, the two nations that suffered the most from Mitch.

Throughout the tragedy of a storm that left more than 9,000 people dead across the isthmus, these nations have demonstrated a unity that many longtime Central America watchers cautiously predict could mark a turning point in the fractious regional relations.

“This has been a demonstration of Central American solidarity,” said Ricardo Zapata, who heads an international team evaluating the damage caused by Mitch. “They have shown a will to act in concert.”

That is a remarkable achievement, considering the disparities that have--at least until now--made Central American integration a hit-or-miss proposition. Real and perceived differences have held back regional cooperation in the years since Central America’s civil wars of the 1980s were settled. The differences remain even in the days before most of the region’s countries are set to take a major step toward integration.

On Friday, the Central American Free Trade Agreement takes effect, eliminating tariffs and quotas from Guatemala to Costa Rica. In addition to encouraging commerce within the isthmus, the agreement is a step toward Central America’s incorporation into the Pan-American free trade region that is expected to unite the North American Free Trade Agreement, South America’s Mercosur and other trade pacts by 2005.

Joint economic interest followed by a shared tragedy appear to be binding Central America together with a firmness that seemed impossible as recently as three years ago, when these countries backed out of an agreement simply to go on daylight saving time together.

Yet, even as they console one another and move toward economic unity, these tropical countries continue to watch each other with suspicion and jealousy born of ingrained prejudices and bitter experience that have sunk previous attempts to work together.

Nations Are Like Families in a Tenement

Central America, in many ways, is like a crowded tenement where families are struggling so hard individually to get out of poverty that they can never cooperate long enough to form a tenants association to improve the building. To outsiders, the families may appear similar, but years of living in close quarters have magnified their perceptions of the differences among them.

Further, each neighbor has come to believe that he has a special relationship with the rich family down the block, a tie that is far more likely to improve his future than an alliance with a neighbor just as poor as him, or even poorer.

That belief has been nurtured by regular U.S. meddling, from the two-decade American occupation of Nicaragua that began in 1912 to the CIA-engineered coup in 1954 that overthrew Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz.

U.S. attention reached the point of obsession during the civil wars. Even Honduras and Costa Rica, which were not at war, became rear-guard areas for U.S.-backed troops and thus recipients of millions of dollars in U.S. aid.

As the Cold War faded, so did U.S. interest. “Now, we can all just starve to death quietly,” said Salvadoran analyst Hector Dada, expressing a feeling of abandonment felt across the region.

It took destruction on the scale of Mitch to reawaken U.S. interest and provoke a pledge of $250 million in U.S. disaster relief and reconstruction aid.

Still, the decade of U.S. neglect allowed these countries to create a foundation for regional unity as they rebuilt their war-wrecked roads and bridges--many of which were destroyed again in last month’s storms--while trying to find a place for their small, weakened economies in an increasingly competitive world market. In 1996, when Guatemala became the last country on the isthmus to end its guerrilla war, Central Americans were ready to focus on strengthening their tenuous links to each other.

“The increasing complexities of world economic relations, where no country today can feel itself absolute master of its own destiny, accentuates the need for us to accelerate the pace of regional integration,” Salvadoran President Armando Calderon Sol said in a recent address.

The United States alternately encourages and undermines Central American unity. The U.S. refusal to negotiate individual trade deals with these countries helped give them the impetus to create their own regional trade pact. Together, they can negotiate future agreements as a market of 30.3 million people, worthy of U.S. consideration.

Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House International Relations Committee, in October introduced legislation that would grant Panama a free-trade agreement if that nation allows U.S. troops to remain beyond the end of next year, when the U.S. is scheduled to surrender control of the Panama Canal.

While it is admittedly a long way from a bill to a trade pact, the gesture rewarded Panama’s decision to merely observe the Central American trade talks, rather than joining the agreement.

Panama and Belize the Newcomers

Belize, a former British colony and Central America’s only English-speaking country, and Panama often act more like rushees than fraternity members at Central American gatherings. The two countries usually are observers at such meetings, not often entering into formal agreements.

In fact, geography aside, both are relative newcomers to Central America. Belize was still part of the British empire and Panama was part of Colombia in 1821, when the United Provinces of Central America declared their independence from Spain. Fifteen years later, the new country had disintegrated as its members fought the first of the border wars that continued into this century.

Tensions among these neighbors have run so high that a border war could be sparked by a mere soccer game, as occurred in 1969. At that time, Hondurans felt frustrated that their trade deficit with El Salvador and the number of Salvadoran immigrants in their country were burgeoning. Tempers flared at a soccer game, causing a riot. That provoked a four-day conflict that killed several thousand people and destroyed the isthmus’ previous attempt at economic integration, the Central American Common Market.

Belize and Guatemala also have had their border problems, which intensified in the decade after Belize got independence in 1981. In fact, a block-long topographical map of Guatemala in the capital includes Belize--as part of Guatemala. Guatemala rescinded its claims and recognized Belize’s independence in 1991.

Border Disputes Continue on Isthmus

Nor are border conflicts a thing of the past. Costa Rica and Nicaragua are disputing control of the San Juan River, which marks the eastern portion of their frontier.

“Let there be no doubt that the San Juan River belongs to us,” Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Aleman said in October. “We will conserve for generation after generation this beautiful river that Mother Nature and God have given Nicaragua.”

Costa Ricans have expressed their displeasure with that stance by offering Colombia support against Nicaragua’s long-standing claim to the Caribbean island of San Andres.

Even when Costa Rica and Nicaragua have sought a little cross-border understanding, they have instead hit a rich vein of resentment that yielded near-rebellion in one case involving a sort of sister-city program for frontier towns.

In meetings last year with their Costa Rican counterparts, officials in Cardenas, a Nicaraguan township of 5,000, noticed a pattern: The Costa Rican towns had better health clinics, schools and roads. Cardenas’ mayor and city council decided that the only responsible course was to secede from Nicaragua and join Costa Rica.

“Costa Rica is concerned about its people’s social development,” explained Mayor Armando Torrentes, sitting in the two-room town hall beneath the banner of the Central American Integration System. That regional body is charged with unifying the political, social and economic policies of the isthmus’ countries.

Cardenas’ ill-fated rebellion--Nicaragua refused to let the township go and Costa Rica didn’t want it--exemplifies the disparities that have impeded regional unity.

Proud of the peace and prosperity that they have defended as military dictatorships and civil wars divided and impoverished the rest of the region, Costa Ricans have been cautious about accepting integration.

When Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua streamlined border-crossing procedures earlier this year, Costa Rica declined to participate, worried that illegal immigration from its poorer neighbors would increase as a result. That agreement has begun to break down as Guatemala announced this month that it plans to withdraw, at least temporarily.

Car thieves, drug traffickers and illegal immigrants from all over the isthmus are taking advantage of the accord to use Guatemala as a jumping-off place for points northward, officials complained. That is just the sort of outcome Costa Rica expected.

Even Divided Over Wildlife and Sports

Costa Rican distrust runs so deep that it even extends to wildlife. “I love our colorful birds, so I put out seeds for them,” said a Costa Rican rancher who lives near the Nicaraguan border. “But the ugly black birds come from Nicaragua and eat the food I put there for the pretty Costa Rican birds.”

Central Americans are even divided in their love of sports. Panamanians and Nicaraguans play baseball; everyone else prefers soccer. Nicaraguan journalist Alvaro Cruz was surprised by the reaction of his Salvadoran colleagues when he ventured an opinion at a recent soccer game. “They told me to shut up, that [Nicaraguans] don’t know anything about soccer,” he said, using a pejorative that their neighbors apply to Nicaraguans.

Despite such recurring differences, Central Americans are working together on a variety of fronts. They are strengthening the powers of the Central American Parliament, charged with resolving regional conflicts. And they are drawing dispersed regional organizations, such as the Central American Economic Integration Bank and Central American Public Administration Institute, under the umbrella of the Central American Integration System.

Those efforts look good to some outsiders. The Caribbean nation of the Dominican Republic even requested and received admission to the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

And in September, 177 years after the founding of the old United Provinces of Central America, most of the region’s presidents stressed in their independence day addresses reviving the old dream of a united Central America.

“Salvadorans have always bet on the option of unity and solidarity for Central America because we believe in the common destiny of our brother peoples,” Calderon Sol said. “For that reason, the reconstruction of the great fatherland of our founding fathers should continue to be our most important goal.”

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Central America Comparisons

Here is a look at the economies of Central American countries as the Central American Free Trade Agreement goes into effect Jan. 1. Panama and Belize are not members.

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Belize Guatemala Land area (sq. mi.) 8,867 42,042 Population (in thousands) 227 10,519 Gross domestic product (millions) $512.7 $10,433.1 Per capita GDP $2,261.4 $991.8 Exports (millions) $179 $2,598 Imports (millions) $257.1 $3,542.7 Currency Belize dollar Quetzal Exchange rate (per U.S. dollar) 2.0** 6.3 Avg. years schooling (pop. under 25) N.A. 3.2* Illiteracy 9.0% 44.4%

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****

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El Salvador Honduras Land area (sq. mi.) 8,260 43,277 Population (in thousands) 5,924 5,981 Gross domestic product (millions) $7,663.0 $3,983.1 Per capita GDP $1,293.5 $666 Exports (millions) $2,414.2 $1,843.2 Imports (millions) $3,520.9 $1,964.4 Currency Colon Lempira Exchange rate (per U.S. dollar) 8.8** 13.4** Avg. years schooling (pop. under 25) 4.1* 4.3* Illiteracy 28.5% 27.3%

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****

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Nicaragua Costa Rica Land area (sq. mi.) 45,698 19,575 Population (in thousands) 4,349 3,575 Gross domestic product (millions) $2,144.7 $7,440.6 Per capita GDP $493.1 $2,081.4 Exports (millions) $708.6 $2,953.8 Imports (millions) $1,371.4 $3,514.0 Currency Cordoba Colon Exchange rate (per U.S. dollar) 10.6** 253.2 Avg. years schooling (pop. under 25) 3.8* 6.0* Illiteracy 34.3% 5.2%

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****

Panama

Land area (sq. mi.): 29,761

Population (in thousands): 2,722

Gross domestic product (millions): $7,376.4

Per capita GDP: $,709.8

Exports (millions): $572.8*

Imports (millions): $2,399.4*

Currency: Balboa

Exchange rate (per U.S. dollar): 1.0*

Avg. years schooling (pop. under 25): 6.7*