SICA Presidents gather in Honduras tomorrow

Tomorrow, the presidents of the 8 member countries of the Central American Integration System (SICA) will gather in San Pedro Sula, Honduras' "second city" and industrial center for the XXXIII SICA summit and to follow up their October 4th emergency meeting in response to the global financial crisis, held in Tegucigalpa.

Perhaps in response to the criticism of the October 4th meeting that the agreements made therein were broad and toothless, the agenda for tomorrow's summit features presentations by each president on the concrete actions being taken to shield their respective economies from the pangs of the global financial crisis.

Today, off-site technical meetings are being held with foreign and finance ministers from each country. Tomorrow's meeting with the presidents will be held at the exclusive Honduran-Arab Club.

According to press reports, a ceremony has been planned tomorrow for Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to be turn over the role of "President Pro Tempore" of the SICA to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a position he will hold through summer 2009.

Reports also confirm that the only president that will not be present is Costa Rica's Oscar Arias, who is currently travelling through Asia to negotiate possible bilateral trade deals.

Can Central Americans expect much from these meetings? Perhaps they shouldn't hold their breath through the weekend, and like anywhere else, things will still probably get worse before they get better. Nonetheless, the individual presentations on each country's response to the crisis is both a promising follow-up to the vagaries pronounced 2 months ago, and a good chance for the region's leaders to get a broad sense of the measures being taken in the region and the menu of options available to them. Hopefully, it will translate to more concrete pronouncements for which citizens can hold their leaders accountable to move on.

Sources: El Heraldo, La Prensa, El Informador, Inside Costa Rica, Associated Press