The Latin American Integration Association / Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración / Associação Latino-Americana de Integração is an international and regional scope organization. It was created on 12 August 1980 by the 1980 Montevideo Treaty, replacing the Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA/ALALC). Currently, it has 13 member countries, and any of the Latin American States may apply for accession.
Central America is located on the southern tip of North America, or is sometimes defined as a subcontinent of the Americas, bordered by Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south. Central America consists of seven countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. The combined population of Central America has been estimated to be 41,739,000 and 42,688,190.
Guatemala's major diplomatic interests are regional security and increasingly, regional development and economic integration.
Belize maintains 14 embassies to foreign countries, one consulate, and three missions to international organizations. In 1990, Belize became a member of the Organization of American States.
British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1862 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973, until September 1981, when it gained full independence as Belize. British Honduras was the last continental possession of the United Kingdom in the Americas.
Pedro de Aycinena y Piñol was a conservative politician and member of the Aycinena clan that worked closely with the conservative regime of Rafael Carrera. He was interim president of Guatemala in 1865 after the death of president for life, general Rafael Carrera.
The Belizean–Guatemalan territorial dispute is an unresolved binational territorial dispute between the states of Belize and Guatemala, neighbours in Central America. The territory of Belize has been claimed in whole or in part by Guatemala since 1821.
The Central American Integration System has been the economic and political organization of Central American states since February 1, 1993. On December 13, 1991, the ODECA countries signed the Protocol of Tegucigalpa, extending earlier cooperation for regional peace, political freedom, democracy and economic development. SICA's General Secretariat is in El Salvador.
Belize has a small, essentially private enterprise economy that is based primarily on agriculture, tourism, and services. The cultivation of newly discovered oil in the town of Spanish Lookout has presented new prospects and problems for this developing nation. Belize's primary exports are citrus, sugar, and bananas. Belize's trade deficit has been growing, mostly as a result of low export prices for sugar and bananas.
The History of Belize dates back thousands of years. The Maya civilization spread into the area of Belize between 1500 BC to 1200 BC and flourished until about 1000 AD. Several Maya ruin sites, including Cahal Pech, Caracol, Lamanai, Lubaantun, Altun Ha, and Xunantunich reflect the advanced civilization and much denser population of that period. The first recorded European settlement was established by shipwrecked English seamen in 1638. Over the next 150 years, more English settlements were established. This period also was marked by piracy, indiscriminate logging, sporadic attacks by natives, and neighboring Spanish settlements.
The Belize–Mexico border is an international border between Belize and Mexico. It is 250 km long and almost exclusively follows the course of the Hondo River. It separates Belize from the Mexican states of Quintana Roo and Campeche.
Wilfred Peter "Sedi" Elrington is a Belizean politician who has been the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belize since 2008.
The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is a free-trade agreement between Canada, the European Union and its member states. It has been provisionally applied, so the treaty has eliminated 98% of the tariffs between Canada and the EU.
The European Union has concluded free trade agreements (FTAs) and other agreements with a trade component with many countries worldwide and is negotiating with many others.
Canada is regularly described as a trading nation as its total trade is worth more than two-thirds of its GDP. Of that total trade, roughly 75% is done with countries which are part of free-trade agreements with Canada, primarily the United States through the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). By the end of 2014, Canada bilateral trade hit C$1 trillion for the first time.
The Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement, commonly abbreviated CSSTA and sometimes alternatively translated Cross-Strait Agreement on Trade in Services is a treaty between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan, signed in June 2013 but currently unratified by the Taiwanese legislature, aimed at liberalizing trade in services between the two economies. Under the terms of the treaty service industries such as banking, healthcare, tourism, film, telecommunications, and publishing would be opened to investment and businessmen would be able to obtain indefinitely renewable visas for the other territory. It would become easier for businesses to set up offices and branches in the other territory and for large stakes in businesses to be sold to the other party’s investors.
Belize–Mexico relations refers to the diplomatic relations between Belize and Mexico. Both nations are members of the Association of Caribbean States, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Organization of American States and the United Nations.
A referendum on the territorial dispute with Belize was held in Guatemala on Sunday April 15, 2018. Voters were asked whether the Guatemalan government should request the International Court of Justice to finally resolve the territorial dispute, as part of a commitment signed in December 2008 between Guatemala and Belize. Guatemalan Vice President, Jafeth Cabrera, stated that Belize would hold their referendum in response in May 2018, but Belize released a statement denying this, stating rather that they will hold the referendum after the re-registration process has occurred to ensure an accurate and fair vote.
