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News > Latin America

Central American Customs Union Solidifies With JOH, Morales

  • Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said:

    Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said: "The meeting aims to strengthen the region's economic development." | Photo: Reuters

Published 9 August 2018
Opinion

The presidents of Honduras and Guatemala are set to meet on August 20 to discuss plans to move forward with a Central American trade bloc.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez and Guatemala's President Jimmy Morales will meet on August 20 to discuss the regional Customs Union trade bloc.

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President Hernandez made the announcement at a press conference on Wednesday, saying: "The meeting aims to strengthen the region's economic development."

El Salvador's President Salvador Sanchez Ceren recently announced he would also be joining the Central American economic group.

Hernandez told reporters: "On August 20, we will review with Guatemalan President Morales the Customs Union progress. We’ll meet at the customs station in Corinth."

The Central American Customs Union aims to ease trade bureaucracy and create a more integrated regional economy. The union was first announced in 2015.

"Nicaragua is seeking to become a part of the union so that we can become the continent's seventh strongest economy," Hernandez said.

The region faces some of the highest homicide, poverty and corruption indices in the Americas.

The leaders of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala have advanced their union talks in recent months under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to end the influx of undocumented immigrants seeking to enter the United States.

El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala comprise 68 percent of the Central American population and 69 percent of the region's trade.

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