The process of economic reform and trade liberalization in Latin America and the Caribbean, under way since the end of the 1980s, has brought about an increasing integration of the countries in the region into the world economy, both in terms of commercial and investment flows. At the same time,...

The Central American Common Market (CACM) comprises Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, the signatories of the General Treaty on Economic Integration in 1960. The basic pattern of economic integration in Central America was based on a free trade area, with a common...

Latin American and Caribbean countries are today at an important juncture in their international economic relations. Since the end of the 1980s the countries of the region have been pursuing a process of economic reform and opening that has brought about a radical change in their domestic...

Economic growth in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has been slow in the last two decades, averaging just 1.8 percent a year, compared to annual growth of 3.5 percent in the world economy and 4.3 percent in developing countries. Growth has varied considerably among CARICOM¿s 15 member states,...

The process of economic reform and trade liberalization in Latin America and the Caribbean, under way since the end of the 1980s, has brought about an increasing integration of the countries in the region into the world economy, both in terms of commercial and investment flows. At the same time,...

The eighteen months from June 2001 to end December 2002 were a period of unprecedented economic crisis within MERCOSUR, stemming from the sharp external shock that, with different characteristics, origins, and consequences in each member country, manifested itself in the bloc¿s two main...

The Andean countries have made significant progress in their external agenda, above all because of the achievements with their main economic and political counterparts. Andean negotiations contributed to having the United States adopt the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act, renewing...

The period beginning in the first half of 2003 opened a window of opportunity for MERCOSUR¿s internal agenda. Convergence among the member countries¿ exchange rate policies, the resumption of economic growth in the subregion, and the assumption of power on the part of heads of state who are...

In the first half of 1998, the impact of the Asian crisis on the level of economic activity in the four MERCOSUR countries was, in addition to being reasonably differentiated, much less severe than had been forecast at the end of 1997. However, the sub-regional gross domestic product (GDP),...

In the first half of 1997, MERCOSUR's macroeconomic situation was marked by two trends: first, improved performance in terms of output and inflation rates, in a context of relative fiscal fragility and external vulnerability; and second, convergence in the performance of the different countries,...