The Esquipulas agreements and the rights of the coast people

Abstract

The author argues in this article that, in spite of the fact that the agreements on peace and democracy contained in Esquipulas I and II contributed to advance the autonomy of the Atlantic Coast, the political will expressed in them was not made extensive to other domains that were also addressed in the agreements. Among these, the effective reintegration of the municipalities of El Rama, Nueva Guinea, Muelle de los Bueyes and El Ayote to the South Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS), and Mulukukú and Waslala to the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN). The same is true, he points out, for the fight against poverty, inequality, the exclusion of indigenous and afro-descendant peoples and other severe social and economic problems. Those, he claims, were the true causes and background of the armed conflicts that for so many years have darkened the Central American people, including the populations of the Coast.