SICA Summit Ends without Consensus about Paraguay

The 39th Summit of the Central American Integration System (SICA) ended here without any common stance on the toppling of Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo.

Though analysts expected consensus on the issue, it was not included in the final document and a statement was approved recognizing that Lugo did not enjoyed a due process.

The event concluded with the signing of the Partnership Agreement with the European Union, with expected benefits worth 3.20 billion USD, but it was rejected by social movements, who consider it a dismantling of local productions and the expansion of monoculture.

Without Nicaraguan approval, Panama entered the economic subsystem of the bloc, causing delay and controversy in the two-day meeting.

There was also a commitment to renew regional security strategies to jointly fight crime and drug trafficking, according to El Heraldo newspaper.

After the six-month term established, Honduras handed over the SICA presidency to Nicaragua, another member of the bloc that also groups El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Belize and Panama, with the Dominican Republic as an associate and the debut of the United States as observer.

The leaders maintained among priorities the comprehensive disaster risk management and the climate change, social and economic integration and institutional strengthening.