International Commission For Central American Recovery and Development - Brief On The History

Brief On The History

The report noted that the economic expansion following the Second World War is critical to understanding the historical roots of the crisis that Central America faced during the 1970s and 1980s, after the region’s economy nearly collapsed from the inability to adjust to international structural changes. While the region averaged unprecedented growth from 1950 to 1978, the strengths of the economy in Central America did not outweigh the faults of exclusionary politics, flawed economic structures, decline of intra-regional trade, and external economic setbacks that consequently led to social unrest, violence and civil war. While Zuvekas (2001: 128-120) maintains that the report "does not sufficiently recognize the (admittedly limited) progress" made throughout the 1980s, the commentator on the commission does believe the "ICCARD is fundamentally sound." From the historical detail on the civil strife that uprooted and caused suffering in the region for over ten years, the international commission then provided an immediate plan for action in order to attend to the social impact of the crisis.