2003News

DR joins regional system

The Dominican Republic has been accepted into the Central American Integration System (SICA in Spanish) as an “extra-regional member.” The heads of state of Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama praised President Hipolito Mejia for introducing the Dominican Republic into the group. The Belize Declaration promises to push forward the integration of the countries’ economies and eventually create the “Central American Customs Union.” President Mejia traveled to Belize on Friday, 19 December for the formal adherence of the country to SICA during the XXIII Central American Integration System Summit Conference. During the summit, President Mejia proposed that the Caribbean nations form an alliance to prohibit the transport of nuclear waste through the territorial waters of Central America and the Caribbean. As reported in the Listin Diario, the alliance was the central theme of a speech given by Mejia at the Mejia referred to the meeting as “undeniably promising” and emphasized the importance of preserving the environment and natural resources of the Caribbean. The need for such an alliance, said Mejia, “is the need to protect the resources of the seas, the principle source for developing a sustainable tourist industry.”