Nicaragua
Tela Agreement (Unofficial Translation)
Envío team
The Central American Presidents, meeting in the port city of Tela in the Republic of Honduras on August 5, 6 and 7, 1989,
Taking into consideration and recognizing the important work undertaken by the Executive Commission at its Ninth Meeting and by the Technical Working Group, whose efforts allowed this
meeting to take place, and
Considering that, in order to achieve a firm and lasting peace and ensure implementation of the commitments assumed by the Presidents in the Declarations of Accords successively made at
Alajuela and Costa del Sol, it is necessary to comply with the steps agreed upon in Esquipulas II,
AGREE:
1. To ratify their conviction to promote all measures aimed towards compliance with numerals 5 and 6 of the Esquipulas Accord in order to prevent the use of one's national territory to destabilize the Governments of the Central American countries. In keeping with the above, they signed the document containing the Joint Plan for the Demobilization and Voluntary Repatriation and Relocation in Nicaragua or Third Countries of Members of the Nicaraguan Resistance and Their Families, and on assistance for the demobilization of all persons involved in armed activities in the countries of the region, when they voluntarily request such assistance.
2. To promote direct and mutually agreed resolutions to those disputes that may arise between various Central American countries. The Presidents of Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica thereby lent their moral support to and endorsed the Agreement between Honduras and Nicaragua regarding the case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
3. To ratify the appeal to armed groups in the region that still persist in the use of force, particularly the FMLN, to abandon such actions. Towards this end, they have approved Article III
on assistance for the Voluntary Demobilization of the FMLN. In Article III, the FMLN is vehemently called upon to put an immediate and effective end to hostilities, in order to engage in
a dialogue that will lead to a cessation of the armed struggle and to incorporation of the FMLN members into the institutional and democratic life of the country.
4. The Presidents recognize the efforts of the Government of Guatemala to strengthen its process of national reconciliation through extensive and permanent dialogue in which the National
Reconciliation Commission occupies a leading role. They likewise express their desire that this dialogue will serve to consolidate the democratic, pluralist and participatory process and, in
accordance with numeral 1 of the Esquipulas Procedure and domestic legislation, reiterate an appeal to armed groups to abandon those activities that contradict the spirit of this accord and join in institutional political life by taking part in the national reconciliation process.
5. In light of the fact that Honduras and Nicaragua have arrived at an agreement that includes the withdrawal by Honduras of its reservation regarding the enactment of said Plan and the
reiteration of the Honduran request to send an international peace force to Honduran territory, the Central American Presidents agree to request the United Nations to adopt the necessary measures for establishing the verification mechanism for security matters.
6. To ratify the call made by the Executive Commission at its Ninth Meeting that the Central American Commission on Environment and Development hold its First Meeting in Guatemala City on August 30 and 31, 1989 so that work be undertaken to prepare the draft convention governing its nature and functions.
7. To reiterate the importance of the Central American Parliament as a forum in which the peoples of the area will discuss and formulate recommendations on the political, economic, social and cultural problems of Central America. It is essential that the treaty establishing the Central American Parliament should enter into force as rapidly as possible.
8. To forcefully condemn drug trafficking and abuse. The Central American Presidents commit themselves to promulgate laws and adopt drastic measures to prevent our countries from becoming
bases for drug traffickers. To achieve these goals, regional and international cooperation will be sought, agreements will be signed with countries affected by such illicit trafficking, and steps will be taken to permit effective control of drug trafficking.
9. The Central American Presidents agree to entrust the Executive Commission with the task of discussing approval of the document concerning political verification, which will be ratified by the Presidents at their next meeting.
Two years after the signing of the Esquipulas II Peace Plan, the Presidents of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua reiterate their resolve to comply fully with all the
commitments and agreements stipulated in the Guatemala Procedure and the Alajuela and Costa del Sol Declarations, particularly those pertaining to strengthening the national reconciliation processes and perfecting the democratic processes, for which strict compliance with the agreements reached is fundamental.
The Central American Presidents thank the people and Government of Honduras, and in particular President José Azcona Hoyo, for the hospitality extended to them.
Tela, Honduras, August 7, 1989.
Oscar Arias Sánchez
President of the Republic of Costa Rica
Alfredo Cristiani Burkard
President of the Republic of El Salvador
Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo
President of the Republic of Guatemala
José Azcona H.
President of the Republic of Honduras
Daniel Ortega Saavedra
President of the
Republic of Nicaragua
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