New Actors, Democracy, and Challenges Face Central America on the Threshold of the Twenty-First Century

Taking as a point of departure the recently achieved (in the 80s and 90s) global, positive balance for Central America, the resolution of armed conflicts and the democratic institutional scene; this essay intends to evaluate the path walked in relation to the transition processes and democratic consolidation, the mechanisms of social inclusion and the difficult conditions that confront Central America's international economic inclusion. In this perspective, the essay intends to report some key actors and moments that have marked the region and that have imparted characteristics of its present behavior, but which also show trends and possibilities for the future.