After a period of unusual attention in the 1980s, the five small countries of
Central America have all but faded from world headlines in the 1990s. El
Salvador still commanded a certain amount of international press coverage as
the peace agreement ending its 12-year civil war was put into effect, and
previous enemies worked uneasily together to address the long-term problems
of their common land. In Nicaragua, tensions continued among former adver-
saries in the revolutionary-counterrevolutionary struggle that had lasted from
the early 1980s to 1990. For the most part, the other three -- Costa Rica,
Guatemala, and Honduras -- receded to the periphery of vision of both states-
men and informed publics.

To the policymakers, planners, and others who attend to the affairs of the
Central American countries, however, the problems of governance and eco-
nomic development continue to compel attention. Although the rest of the
world may shift its concerns to other matters, the people of Central America
face the immediate conditions of their existence, and those who think about
the longer term confront immense challenges. Even as others deal with their
region absentmindedly, Guatemalans, Costa Ricans, and other Central Ameri-
cans have to build and protect their countries, that grow in and/or suffer from
a context in which the world's foremost superpower is a constant presence and
in which the global market exerts immense pressure.

These are small states. The largest in area, Nicaragua, is approximately the
size of Iowa or New York, and the one with the largest population, Guatemala,
was estimated in 1990 to contain fewer than 9.5 million people. For Central
Americans, life is a struggle for autonomy from more powerful states, for

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