Esquipulas Peace Agreement

The Esquipulas Peace Agreement was an initiative in the mid-1980s to settle the military conflicts which had plagued Central America for many years, in some cases — Guatemala — decades. It built upon work laid by the Contadora Group from 1983 to 1985.

The agreeement was named for the town in Guatemala, Esquipulas, where the initial meetings took place.

In May 1986, a summit meeting, "Esquipulas I", took place, attended by the five Central American presidents. On February 15, 1987, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias submitted a Peace Plan which evolved from meeting.

During 1986-87, the "Esquipulas Process" was established, in which the Central American heads of state agreed on economic cooperation and a framework for peaceful conflict resolution. The "Esquipulas II Accord" emerged from this and was signed in Guatemala City by the five presidents on August 7, 1987.

Esquipulas II defined a number of measures to promote national reconciliation, an end to hostilities, democratization, free elections, the termination of all assistance to irregular forces, negotiations on arms controls, and assistance to refugees. It also laid the ground for international verification procedures and provided a timetable for implementation.

In subsequent years, Esquipulas laid the groundwork for the 1990 The Oslo Accord (not to be confused with the 1993 Oslo Accords between the Israeli government and the PLO). This was a preliminary agreement between the Guatemalan National Reconciliation Commission (CNR) and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG), a rebel movement, which brought to an end more than three decades of strife in Guatemala. It also inspired a return to liberal democracy in Nicaragua and the signing of a general peace agreement in El Salvador.

Arias' efforts on behalf of the Esquipulas Peace Agreement earned him the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize.