Central America

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Provincias Unidas del Centro de América United Provinces of the Center of America
Flag	Coat of arms
Motto "Dios, Unión y Libertad" (Spanish) "God, Union and Liberty"
Anthem La Granadera
Capital Largest city	San Salvador 13°40′N, 89°10′W Guatemala City
Official languages	Spanish
Demonym	Central American
Government  - President  - Vice-President	Federal presidential republic Anastasio Somoza Portocarrero José Rizo Castellón
Establishment	December 17, 1823
Area  - Total  - Water (%)	423,016 km² 163,362 sq mi 2.52
Population  - 2008 estimate  - Density	37,689,696 89/km² 231/sq mi
GDP (PPP)  - Total  - Per capita	2007 estimate $547 billion $14,500
GDP (nominal)  - Total  - Per capita	2007 estimate $490 billion $13,000
Gini (2006)	49.8 (high)
HDI (2005)	0.846 (high)
Currency	Central American real (CAR)
Time zone - Summer (DST)	CST (UTC -6) not observed (UTC -6)
Internet TLD	.up
Calling code	+500

The United Provinces of the Center of America (Spanish: Provincias Unidas del Centro de América), commonly called Central America (Spanish: Centroamérica or América Central), is an upper-middle income nation in Central America. Bordering Mexico to the north, Belize to the northeast, and the Confederate States of Latin America to the south, it is one of the oldest republics in the Western Hemisphere, with a strong liberal democratic tradition. Formed by the union of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, the nation will celebrate its bicentennial on December 17, 2023.

A geographically and culturally diverse nation abundant in resources, flora, and fauna, the United Provinces of Central America enjoys some of the greatest biodiversity in the world - bringing it to the attention of not only scientists, but also tourists, who flock to the country by the millions every year, earning the country much revenue. Also of note is the country's extensive, sometimes tumultuous, geographic activity; volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur from time to time, with varying severity, from minor tremors to cataclysmic disasters taking thousands of lives (notable examples being the 1931 and 1972 Managua earthquakes).

A socially conservative nation, it is the only country in the world where abortion is illegal without exception - even when the mother's life is in danger. Though religious freedom is protected by law and the majority of Central Americans are tolerant of other faiths, the Roman Catholic Church wields considerable influence. Although the country is officially secular, the constitution requires that the President be a Catholic.

Though much social, political, and economic progress has been made in the past few decades, especially since the early 1980s, corruption remains a cause of concern, poverty persists in some areas, and income distribution is among the most inequal in the world.

History

Pre-colonial history

In pre-Columbian times, most of modern Central America was part of the Mesoamerican civilization. The Native American societies of Mesoamerica occupied the land ranging from central Mexico in the north to Costa Rica in the south. Most notable among these were the Maya, who had built numerous cities throughout the region, and the Aztecs, who created a vast empire. The pre-Columbian cultures of Panama traded with both Mesoamerica and South America, and can be considered transitional between those two cultural areas.

Colonization

Following Christopher Columbus's discovery of the Americas for Spain, the Spanish sent numerous expeditions to the region, and they began their conquest of Maya lands in the 1520s. In 1540, Spain established the Captaincy General of Guatemala, which extended from southern Mexico to Costa Rica, and thus encompassed most of what is currently known as Central America, with the exception of British Honduras (present-day Belize). This lasted nearly three centuries, until a rebellion (which followed closely on the heels of the Mexican War of Independence) in 1821.

Independence

In 1821 a congress of Central American criollos declared their independence from Spain, effective on 15 September of that year. That date is still marked as the independence day by most Central American nations. The Spanish Captain General, Gabino Gaínza, sympathized with the rebels and it was decided that he should stay on as interim leader until a new government could be formed. Independence was short-lived, for the conservative leaders in Guatemala welcomed annexation by the Mexican Empire of Agustín de Iturbide on 5 January 1822. Central American liberals objected to this, but an army from Mexico under General Vicente Filisola occupied Guatemala City and quelled dissent.

When Mexico became a republic the following year, it acknowledged Central America's right to determine its own destiny. On 1 July 1823, the congress of Central America declared absolute independence from Spain, Mexico, and any other foreign nation, and a republican system of government was established.

Early republic

Early map of the United Provinces.

In 1823 the nation of Central America was formed. It was intended to be a federal republic modeled after the United States of America. The Central American nation consisted of the states of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.

Central American liberals had high hopes for the United Provinces, which they believed would evolve into a modern, democratic nation, enriched by trade crossing through it between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. These aspirations are reflected in the emblems of the federal republic: The flag shows a white band between two blue stripes, representing the land between two oceans. The coat of arms shows five mountains (one for each state) between two oceans, surmounted by a Phrygian cap, the emblem of the French Revolution.

In the late 1830s, the nation nearly dissolved as a result of civil war, which directly resulted from Honduras's attempt to secede on November 5, 1838. A brief but economically disastrous war followed, which ended in 1840 with Honduras's re-integration into the Union.

Economy

The United Provinces of Central America has pursued generally sound economic policies for many decades. Since the mid-1970s, the government has sold many state-owned companies, and privatization is continuing as of 2008. The federal government's role in the economy is mostly limited to regulation; most infrastructure is maintained by state and local governments or the private sector, and the vast majority of industry is private. Central America is strongly committed to free trade and has welcomed large amounts of foreign investment. Central America's approach to foreign direct investment is codified in the country's Foreign Investment Law, which gives foreign investors the same treatment as Central Americans. Registration is simple and transparent, and foreign investors are guaranteed access to the official foreign exchange market to repatriate their profits and capital. There is no capital gains or dividend tax. Investment and industry may obtain full exemption from capital, income tax and import duties on machinery and equipment in accordance with the industrial development incentive program.

Coffee is one of Central America´s most important exports.

There is no federal income tax; rather, the federal government taxes the states in proportion to their populations (instead of taxing the people directly). Each state has its own individual income tax, which varies by state. For example, El Salvador has a flat-rate tax of 17%, while Costa Rica has a progressive tax that is as high as 45% for those with high incomes. In addition to the tax levied on the states, the federal government obtains revenue through a national corporate income tax (15%) and a value added tax (10%).

Banking in Central America is characterized by stability, privacy and protection of clients' assets and information. The country's tradition of bank secrecy is codified in law.

Most education, healthcare, and social programs are the responsibility of state and local governments, and they vary widely in type and quality by state. For example, Costa Rica has taxpayer-funded universal healthcare, government-subsidized housing, and free milk for children. El Salvador, on the other hand, has recently fully privatized healthcare and is in the process of privatizing education. However, education and healthcare are uniformly of relatively high quality nationwide, although they are sometimes sparse in rural areas. While primary and secondary schools are funded and administered by state and local governments (except for private schools, of course), universities are funded and administered by the federal government (again, this does not apply to private schools). The vast majority of private schools are run by the Roman Catholic Church or other religious institutions.

While there is a federal minimum wage, the government does not set or regulate prices or interest rates. The federal government is undergoing a gradual "de-federalization" (i.e., turning over to state governments or the private sector) of the country's pension system. Both the states and the federal government maintain public works programs (mainly on major infrastructure projects such as dams, highways, etc.) which provide employment for those consistently unable to find jobs.

The government provides assistance to the rural poor through the Institute for Peasant Welfare (INVIERNO). INVIERNO sends trained agronomists and social workers to aid small farmers, and offers agricultural credits, seeds and fertilizer at below prevailing market prices, technical instruction, help in marketing crops, nutritional education, and other services.

The unemployment rate varies by state, but nationally is about 4.7%. The inflation rate is 1.2%. There is ongoing debate in both the National Assembly and the public about making the transition to a gold standard. President Somoza has promised a "comprehensive and meticulous study" of the idea.

Major industries include coffee, beef, bananas, cotton, rice, corn, tobacco, sugar, textiles and clothing, furniture, chemicals, petroleum refining and distribution, metals, rubber, tourism, food processing, beverages, fertilizer, wood products, machinery and metal products, footwear, microprocessors, construction materials, and plastic products.

The country's largest trading partners are the Confederate States of Latin America, Mexico, the Republic of Sonora, Western Canada, and the U.S.A.

Politics

Presidency

Casa Presidencial (Presidential House).

Executive responsibilities are vested in a president, who is the country's center of power. There is also a Vice-President and a cabinet. The President is indirectly elected through the electoral college to a seven year term, and is limited to one term only. The President and Vice-President are both elected on the same ticket.

The President serves as both the head of state and the head of government. In the event that the President dies in office, is removed from office, is incapacitated, or is otherwise unable to complete his term or fulfill his duties of office, the Vice-President assumes the presidency.

In order to be eligible for President, a candidate must meet the following qualifications:

• He must be a natural-born citizen of the United Provinces of Central America;
• He must be at least thirty years of age or older;
• He must have been a permanent resident in the United Provinces of Central America for at least twenty years;
• He must be a Roman Catholic;
• He cannot have ever been convicted of a crime;
• He must have completed secondary school or higher

The President's duties and functions are as follows:

1. The President oversees the day-to-day management of the federal government.
2. The President serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He commands and directs the military and is responsible for planning military strategy. However, only the National Assembly can declare war, and the President cannot deploy troops abroad without the National Assembly's approval.
3. The President appoints the Cabinet, federal civil servants, and other federal officers, with the approval of the Senate.
4. The President has the power to sign into law or veto bills passed by both houses of the National Assembly. All federal legislation requires the President's signature before it becomes law. However, the National Assembly can override the President's veto by a two-thirds majority in each house.
5. The President takes part in foreign visits and receives foreign dignitaries. He also directs foreign policy and concludes treaties with foreign nations (although treaties must be ratified by the Senate before they can take effect), accredits Central American diplomats, and receives the letters of accreditation of foreign diplomats.
6. The President has the power to grant full or conditional pardon to anyone convicted of breaking a federal law (except in a case of impeachment). The President has the pardoning power to shorten prison terms and reduce sentences.
7. The President confers decorations and honors.
8. The President is responsible for preparing the budget of the federal government (but the Senate must approve it).

The President's official residence is the Casa Presidencial (English: "Presidential House") in San Salvador. His annual salary is 175,000 reals (equivalent to 25,000 Latin American pesos).

Each ex-President is entitled to lifetime membership in the Senate. Currently, there are 3 former Presidents serving as life senators (Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Arnoldo Alemán, and Enrique Bolaños).

National Assembly

The legislative branch of the federal government consists of a bicameral National Assembly, made up of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, which makes federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power of the purse, and has the power of impeachment, by which it can remove sitting members of the government, including the President. Both houses of the National Assembly convene in the National Palace (Palacio Nacional).

The National Palace.

Chamber of Deputies

The Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the National Assembly, has the power to initiate legislation. Members are directly elected by popular vote on a proportional representation basis from party lists. Members serve for five-year terms (there are no term limits). There are currently 200 members of the Chamber of Deputies.

Senate

The upper house of the National Assembly is the Senate, whose purpose is to represent the states at the federal level. The number of senators varies; its members include 4 representatives of each state (appointed by the state legislatures thereof), as well as every living ex-President of Central America (once a President's term expires, he automatically acquires membership in the Senate). As of 2008, the Senate has 27 members: 4 from each state, and 3 former Presidents.

Though the Senate can block or defer bills, it cannot initiate bills. The Senate must provide its consent to senior government appointments.

Senators appointed by the state legislatures serve ten-year terms (there are no term limits), while former Presidents serve in the senate for life.

National Assembly seats by party

Supreme Court of Justice

The Supreme Court of Justice.

Judicial power is exercised by the Supreme Court of Justice, composed of 22 magistrates selected for renewable 8-year terms by the Chamber of Deputies, and subsidiary courts. Magistrates face mandatory retirement at age 70. A Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, established in 1989, reviews the constitutionality of legislation and executive decrees and all habeas corpus warrants.

Political parties

A broad variety of political parties exist in Central America, varying widely in ideology. Many are mainly regionally-based, while others are predominant nationwide. For several decades, Central American politics has been dominated by the Nationalist Liberal Party and the Conservative Party. Critics charge that any difference in ideology between the two parties is negligible. Even so, many newer parties are growing rapidly in membership and popularity, especially the Social Democratic Party, the Libertarian Movement Party, and the Popular Social Christian Party. A few of these parties have even managed to win the governorship and/or legislatures of local or even state governments.

The constitution proscribes the formation of Marxist-Leninist parties or organizations, as well as membership in such groups.

Major parties

• Nationalist Liberal Party (Spanish: Partido Liberal Nacionalista, or PLN)
  • The historic rival of the Conservative Party, the PLN represents the interests of artisans and workers. After over a century of conflict with the Conservatives, the Liberals achieved long-term power in the mid-1930s, when General Anastasio Somoza García became president. It has won every election since then. While the ideological differences between the two parties are rather negligible, the PLN vaguely represents labor and social programs, while the Conservatives vaguely represent certain business sectors and are closely affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. The current party leader is Anastasio Somoza Portocarrero, who is also the current President.
    
    
• Conservative Party (Spanish: Partido Conservador, or PC)
  • The Conservative Party represents the interests of cattle-raisers and merchants. The PC has been the official opposition since the mid-1930s. The PC represents important business sectors and advocates a return to the Church-state relationship that would give the Catholic Church more power in the country by making it the official religion of the Federal Republic of Central America. Its official motto is "God, Order, and Justice." The party's current leader is Antonio Saca.

Minor parties

• Social Democratic Party (Spanish: Partido Social Demócrata, or PSD)
  • A center-left/social democratic party, the PSD draws most of its support from Costa Rica. About half of the party's members subscribe to the "third way," ideology, just under a third are democratic socialists, and the remainder support a "social market" economic system. The current party leader is Óscar Arias, the Governor of Costa Rica. The PSD is a member of Socialist International.
    
    
• Popular Social Christian Party (Spanish: Partido Popular Social Cristiano, or PPSC)
  • A Christian democratic party, the PPSC is generally right-wing/conservative on social issues (anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, etc.) while economically it supports a "social market" economy. Led by Abel Pacheco, the party holds membership in the Christian Democrat International.
    
    
• Libertarian Movement Party (Spanish: Partido Movimiento Libertario, or PML)
  • A recently founded classical liberal/libertarian party, the PML is led by Costa Rican politician Otto Guevara, a Harvard graduate.
    
    
• National Action Party (Spanish: Partido de Acción Nacional, or PAN)
  • A moderate/centrist party, the PAN is known for putting pragmatism above ideology and denouncing "extremism" on both sides of the political spectrum. The party leader is Augusto Guzmán.
    
    
• Agricultural Labor Action Party (Spanish: Partido Acción Laborista Agrícola, or PALA)
  • A center-left agrarian labor party based mainly in Costa Rica. It is led by Silviano Mercado.
    
    
• Democratic Change (Spanish: Cambio Democrático, or CD)
  • A newly formed political party with no defined ideology, whose platform only states that "Our goal is to end the two-party monpoly that has endured in our homeland for over a century." The party's current leader is Eduardo Arévalo.
    
    
• Ecologist Green Party (Spanish: Partido Verde Ecologista, or PVE)
  • A green party founded in 2003, the PVE holds membership in the Federation of the Green Parties of the Americas. Its founder and leader is Nicaraguan politician Edward Martín Salazar Cruz.
    
    
• Constitutionalist Liberal Party (Spanish: Partido Liberal Constitucionalista, or PLC)
  • The Constitutionalist Liberal Party was formed in 1968 by former members of the Nationalist Liberal Party who became disillusioned by the Somoza family's dominance over the PLN. Like the PLN, the PLC is harshly anticommunist. Its current leader is José Somarriba.
    
    
• Social Conservative Party (Spanish: Partido Social Conservador, or PSC)
  • A conservative, right-wing party founded in 1988, it is led by octogenarian politician Fernando Agüero, who was the Conservative Party's candidate for president in 1966. The PSC was founded by Agüero and a small number of his supporters after he left the Conservative Party over "personal differences."
    
    
• Multiethnic Indigenist Party (Spanish: Partido Indígena Multiétnico, or PIM)
  • A center-left party founded to represent the interests of indigenous Central Americans, the party is most popular in rural Guatemala. Its leader is Otilia Lux de Cotí, a former member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

States of Central America

State	Capital	Governor	Population	Area
Costa Rica	San José	Óscar Arias	4,195,914	51,100 km²
El Salvador	San Salvador	Ana Vilma de Escobar	7,066,403	21,040 km²
Guatemala	Guatemala City	Zury Ríos Montt	13,002,206	108,890 km²
Honduras	Tegucigalpa	Porfirio Lobo Sosa	7,639,327	112,492 km²
Nicaragua	Managua	Alexis Argüello	5,785,846	129,494 km²

State governments

Each state has a unicameral legislature, known as a House of Assembly, whose members are directly elected to five-year terms, in the same manner as members of the Chamber of Deputies.

The judicial branch of each state is a High Court which reviews the constitutionality of state laws. Members of the High Court are appointed by the Governor, but are subject to the approval of the House of Assembly. Just like their counterparts in the Supreme Court of Justice, the magistrates of the High Court face mandatory retirement at age 70.

Finally, the executive branch of each state is headed by an indirectly elected Governor. Rather than vote for Governor directly, citizens vote for electors, who in turn for vote for the Governor. The election itself does not turn out a winner automatically. The three highest-voted candidates in each circumscription make up what is called a "triple list", from which the House of Assembly selects one individual, who is then considered to be "elected". The House usually picks the highest-voted for individual, but it is within its discretion to select whichever of the three individuals listed it wants. A Governor's term is five years, and he is limited to two terms, which must be consecutive.

The Central American constitution stipulates that all powers not expressly delegated to the federal government, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to state and local governments. As such, the states enjoy a high level of autonomy and, for the most part, manage their affairs with little to no interference or oversight from the federal government.

Culture

Central America enjoys rich diversity in people and cultures. The Roman Catholic Church, which claims more than 3/4 of the population as adherents, wields a strong influence on the country's society and politics. Much of the population is staunchly conservative on social issues, to such an extent that the United Provinces of Central America is the only nation in the world where abortion is illegal without exception - even when the mother's life is in danger. Divorce and homosexuality are also cultural taboos; in fact, under the Sodomy Act, sodomy was punishable by up to two years' imprisonment at hard labor, however, enforcement of the law became increasingly lax with the passage of time, and in October 2007, it was finally repealed.

Rare is the political apathy so prevalent in the Western world: elections are festive, lively, heatedly discussed occasions, and voter turn-out is among the highest in the world. Central Americans, whatever their political views, tend to show great patriotism and much love for their country.

Nearly every Central American is rabidly enthusiastic for sports, especially fútbol (soccer), which can only be described as a national obsession, enjoyed by Central Americans of every age, race, class, gender, and creed. The nation's love of sports is not confined solely to soccer, however; baseball, basketball, hunting, and fishing are also popular.

Central Americans are said to be a warm and hospitable people, and the majority of tourists who come to the country leave with a favorable impression, describing the Central Americans as gracious hosts and charming, amiable people.

Indigenous Central Americans are famous for their colorful and elaborate clothing, fascinating stories and legends, and the world-captivating temples and pyramids built by their forefathers.