On August 7, 1987, in Esquipulas, Guatemala, the presidents of Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and El Salvador signed the document “Procedure for the Establishment of a Firm and Lasting Peace in Central America” (the so-called Esquipulas II Peace Agreement), which became the starting point for ending long-term armed conflicts and transferring the subregional political process to a democratic path.

This allowed the above countries, despite all the differences in the development models they chose, to start creating stable peaceful conditions to resolve acute socioeconomic problems of each Central American state and the entire region as a whole. The constructive potential of this process also manifested itself in the movement towards the national consolidation of states, which were previously divided along ideological and political lines, and the subsequent emergence of a new association, the Central American Integration System (SICA).

The conclusion of Esquipulas II was regarded by the international community as an important political breakthrough in ending regional conflicts and proof of Latin Americans’ ability to solve their problems by peaceful and democratic means.

Moscow actively supported the negotiating efforts and welcomed the signing of the peace agreement that markedly changed the international political panorama of the region.

We are pleased to note that 30 years later there is almost no serious interstate discord in Central America and there is a willingness to deepen joint efforts to promote the interests of the common “Central American home” with a view to its continued transformation into a zone of peace, freedom, democracy and development.

This creates additional opportunities to further bolster the full range of Russia's cooperation with the SICA countries both in bilateral and multilateral formats. We will continue to work hard to resolve this important task.