Costa Rica         Haití                Panamá
Cuba                 Honduras        Dominican Republic
El Salvador        México
Guatemala         Nicaragua

The Central American integration process began in the 1950s, but was stalled by armed conflicts in the region. It was reactivated in the late 1980s, following the signing of various Peace Accords. The  Tegucigalpa Protocol of 13 December 13 established the Central American Integration System (SICA), and defined its organizational structure. The member countries are Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. The Dominican Republic is an associate member, and Belize has since joined, too.

The International Conference in Support of the Central American Security Strategy, held in June 2011, was convened to enhance SICA’s capability to take the lead in regional security issues, in order to fight organized crime, with a regional focus and one of co-responsibility in the actions taken by Central American governments and their partner countries.

Spain, which founded the Friends of the Conference Group, is contributing 8 million euros to the Central American Security Strategy for the period 2010-2013. In total, the series of actions that Spain is undertaking in Central America in the area of security and justice involves an investment of some 150 million euros, for the period from 2008 to 2014. In addition, Spain has supported the creation of the SICA Democratic Security Unit.

Programme for Regional Cooperation with Central America
Spanish Cooperation has formulated the Programme for Regional Cooperation with Central America (PCRC, Spanish initials) within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2001 between AECID and SICA.

This is a tool for channelling Spanish Cooperation’s efforts toward the countries in the region, with special emphasis  on strengthening institutions and on coordinating and harmonising public policies in order to obtain greater human development and improved effectiveness in the fight against poverty.

PCRC lines of action

• Governance and modernization of Public Administration
• Health
• Education
• Sustainable development and environmental management of natural resources
• Prevention of natural disasters
• Strengthening productive sectors: tourism, fisheries, coffee production
• Gender issues
• Institutional strengthening of the SICA General Secretariat

Even before the earthquake, Haiti was a priority country for AECID. Spain has worked many years with Haitians in their fight against poverty and inequality. In 2009, Spain, the third largest bilateral donor in Haiti and the largest EU donor, announced the cancellation of Haiti’s debt.

At the International Donors' Conference "Towards a New Future for Haiti", held in New York, the international community committed itself to contributing 9 billion dollars for the reconstruction of Haiti, for the period 2010-2013. Of this amount, Spain will contribute 346 million dollars.

Spain's commitment to Haiti is focused on:

• The eradication of poverty and hunger
• Water and sanitation
• Education
• Preserving the cultural heritage
• Strengthening democracy and governance