War In Central America

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War in Central America

I . Introduction

Central America is the southernmost part of the North American continent . It lies south south of Mexico and form the land connection with South America . Central America is commonly defined as including Guatemala , Belize , Honduras , El Salvador , Nicaragua , Costa Rica , and Panama . The km2 , about three-fourths that of Texas

Central America is long and narrow , tapering to a width of barely 30 miles (48km ) in parts of Panama . On the east is the Caribbean Sea , on the

west , the Pacific Ocean . Both coasts are deeply indented in places and offshore islands are numerous , especially in the Caribbean . The land is mostly mountainous , with scattered active volcanoes . Except for the coastal plains , which are narrow in most places , there is little flat land (Woodward , 1999

In the early 1900 's , there was unrest in several Central American countries . The United States intervened militarily in the region several times to restore and protect its interests . After World War II most Central American countries had dictatorial governments

In 1951 , the Organization of Central American States was formed to promote economic and cultural cooperation among the countries . One of its achievements was the creation of the Central American Market in 1960 . Cooperation began to break down , however , when national antagonists started to resurface in the late 1960 's . Many of the countries experienced violence between the left- and right- wing political factions , as well as guerrilla insurgencies , inflation , and foreign debt (Woodward , 1999

Political turmoil increased in the 1980 's . Nicaragua 's government was controlled by a leftist group called the Sandinistas , which restricted political freedom in Nicaragua and was accused of supporting a strong Communist insto rebels called contras , who were trying to overthrow the Sandinista regime . There were also abuses of human rights and restrictions of political freedom in other countries in the region . In 1987 , the governments of El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras , Nicaragua , and Costa Rica signed an agreement designed to end the region 's civil wars and foster democracy . The author of the agreement , Costa Rican president Oscar Arias , received the Nobel Peace Prize (Woodward , 1999

This discusses and compares two countries of Central America Guatemala and Panama , focusing on the challenges for democratic consolidation and economic development

II . Background

A . Guatemala

Guatemala or republic of Guatemala is an independent country of Central America . Its bs Mexico , Belize , Honduras , and El Salvador and lies between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea . Guatemala has an area of 42 , 042 square miles . Maximum distances are roughly 280 miles north-south and 250 miles east-west

Narrow lowlands run along the pacific and Atlantic coasts . Between them lie the highlands , covering about half of the country . Dominant features are mountains , volcanoes , high plateaus , broad basins , and many valleys . Forests are one of Guatemala 's richest resources . The Atlantic lowland and the Peten are largely covered by tropical rain forests Savannas predominate along the drier pacific coast . The highlands are covered by grasslands...