The political (in)stability of the central American countries

Abstract

The paper analyses a correlation between the political (in)stability of the Central American countries and the inequality of the countries in relation to the development of capitalism from the aspect of international politics and economics in the case of the Central American countries. Such a status of the Central American countries is opposed to the fact that they have achieved equality in public international law. The Introduction also indicates that political stability depends on functional public authorities, and the success in macroeconomic policy. The main part of the paper deals with the factors which led to political (in)stability during the Cold War and afterwards. The internal factors include lack of communication and trust between government and opposition, weak democracy, serious violations of civil and political rights, dangerous activities of paramilitary forces, economy depending on illicit drug dealers, the underdeveloped legal system as well as the lack of modern, equipped police. The above shortcomings refer especially to Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. This is verified by their ranking in the Human Development Index. On the other hand, countries like Belize, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama are among higher-ranked countries. The most important external factor is the US economic and political impact. In that sense, capitalism can be seen as a recognisable stabilising force due to its ability to adapt itself to occasional economic and political crises. However, China?s growing economic, technical and technological influence on the world could determine a different course of capitalism?s development, as opposed to the US efforts to maintain a leading position in defining the role of capitalism in international relations. The author concludes that these countries can get free from the US influence and become politically stable, provided that China determines the course of future capitalism?s development.