The Federal Republic of Central America was a country that existed two centuries ago for around 15 years.
Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, the five countries that this Wednesday celebrate the 200 years of its independence from Spain, were part of the experiment, while Panama followed its own course to the interior of Gran Colombia.
If it existed today, the Federal Republic of Central America would be a nation of 46 millions of inhabitants with a territory of 423. 000 square kilometers.
It would be the seventh largest economy in America Latin America and the Caribbean after Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru.
Its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would reach about US $ 181. 000 million .
If we include a sixth country, Panama, in this historical fiction exercise, the The power of the unified bloc would be much greater.
Currently, the six countries are the world’s largest exporter of pineapples and cardamom, the second largest exporter of bananas and the third largest exporter of coffee , according to a study published this year by the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA).
How would this Federal Republic of Central America function politically? No one can know.
That nation had such a fleeting and surprising step through the history of the continent that all speculations about what its current destiny would have been are possible.
However, if there is something that continues to intrigue historians, it is a question asked exactly the other way around: how was it possible that such different provinces came together to create a single nation?
What happened to the dream of creating a single country
During the colony, the territories of Central America were part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala, also known as the Kingdom of Guatemala.
The Kingdom of Guatemala at that time included what today we know as Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, in addition to two of the current Panamanian provinces and the Mexican state of Chiapas.
After the independence of the Spanish crown on 15 September 1821, the area was annexed to what was then called First Mexican Empire , headed by Agustín de Iturbide.
A couple of years later, Iturbide was overthrown. Most of that empire became Mexico, while the territories to the southeast became independent.
It was like that in July of 1823 the rebel provinces signed an Act of Independence Absolute for Mexico and Spain and in 1824 officially adopted the name of the Federal Republic of Central America and proclaimed its Constitution.
The face visible of this republic, which over the years was turned into an icon of unionism and a kind of “Simón Bolívar de Centroamérica”, was the Honduran Francisco Morazán , who ended up shot.
In the midst of chaos and struggles between different political factions, finally the Re Central American Federal public saw its extinction in 1838, when the Congress was in session for the last time, the academic Mario Vázquez, from the Center for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CIALC), of the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
It was a time when liberals, conservatives, centralists, federalists faced each other. A time where in addition to the different political visions, the specific interests of each territory were in conflict.
“They had everything to divide themselves”
“There were deep divisions of provincial interests. They had fights since colonial times and strong lawsuits over resources because it was a poor region “, explains Vázquez, author of the book” The Federal Republic of Central America: Territory, Nation and Diplomacy. “
In parallel, he adds, there was a great conflict against the capital, which was in Guatemala. “They felt that they passed from Spanish rule to Mexican rule, and from Mexican rule to Guatemalan hegemony “.
In the midst of the multiple conflicts, there was the permanent tension between those who wanted to maintain unity and those who wanted to follow their own course.
To internal pressures external tensions were added, such as the nation’s conflicts with Mexico, Colombia and even England over Belize .
“The United Kingdom, which was its main trading partner, does not recognize the Federal Republic of Central America. He never received an ambassador, “says Vázquez, who adds that the chances of the nation extending in time were minimal.
” They had everything to divide themselves and very little to remain united as a nation. ” .
“If that republic existed today, perhaps it would be a less poor country. Perhaps it could be compared with Ecuador, with a very great ethnic diversity “, the historian ventures.
” We could imagine that a united Central America would be a more prosperous, more viable country, but we don’t know. “
What has independence been for?
Alberto Mora Román, researcher for the State of the Nation Program (PEN), linked to the public universities of Costa Rica, answers the question about what the Federal Republic of Central America would be like today with another question.
“What is the use of being independent for Central American countries today? Unfortunately in most countries this independence has not served to build solid foundations for people to live better. ”
“The lag conditions that have Central American countries in relation to other countries in Latin America and the world show that autonomy has not been well managed. ”
However, to know if these countries would be better off if they were a single nation, “It would be necessary to venture into the field of predictions and occult sciences.”
“The fact that each of the countries has Being able to take charge of the management of their destinations, with their successes and mistakes, has also generated opportunities ”, such as the case of Costa Rica, Mora points out.
“Slower than Columbus’s caravels”
The five members of the extinct Federal Republic of Central America have -since 1960 – a Central American Common Market (CACM) that includes a free trade zone and a common external tariff for most products.
Sources consulted by BBC Mundo, who preferred to remain anonymous, say that despite the efforts, economic integration has been too slow and point out that what the region really requires is a customs union, something that in practice is far from being achieved.
“A truck moves slower among Central American countries than the Columbus caravels,” they point out.
On the other side, there is a common parliament, the Parlacen, created in the decade of the 68, whose current attribution is only to make recommendations.
Why do we have to integrate?
The countries that belonged to the Republic Federal Central America – in addition to Panama, Belize and the Dominican Republic – are coordinated through a mechanism called the Central American Integration System (SICA).
“We have to integrate ourselves because of our condition as small countries, with little population, and also because we are countries strongly intertwined by development dynamics that transcend our borders,” says researcher Alberto Mora, who is the research coordinator of the “State Report of the Region ”, an academic publication that periodically analyzes issues related to Central America.
An example of the challenges that transcend national boundaries, says the expert, is coordination to maintain eject natural disasters.
Another area where integration between countries is fundamental, he adds, is related to the geopolitics of drug trafficking, because “Central America is the natural corridor through which drugs flow from South America to the United States. United and where the money flows return to the production centers. ”
Among the tangible advances of integration, says the researcher, there is the joint purchase of medicines.
“That has generated savings for the countries of US $ 90 millions between 2011 and 2019, because it allowed them to improve negotiation margins with suppliers. ”
But without a doubt the integration It is not easy.
“There is a huge dispersion of actions. Many of them without adequate financing and dependent on international cooperation. That affects the results, ”says Mora.
From his perspective, one of the biggest debts that regional integration currently has is the strengthening of democracy and political stability. “Without that everything else starts to leak.”
And that is directly related to the historical problem of the high levels of violence that have affected the region. “There are countries that are weak in controlling their territory and protecting the right to life.”
Ultimately, he argues, “Actions to improve social, economic and environmental matters go through a robust institutional framework that generates stability.”
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