ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the region Central America and the Caribbean which contains 21 sovereign states. The one feature all the Central American and Carribbean states have in common is the fact that they live in the shadow of the northern colossus, the United States. The organization of American States (OAS), which includes 19 of the Central American and Caribbean countries, as well as ten of the 11 South American states, has its headquarters in Washington, and is very much an instrument of US foreign policy. The Caribbean community and common market (CARICOM) were founded in 1973, in Trinidad, as a successor to the Caribbean free trade association. There are some seven active political parties, the three most significant being the Antigua labour party (ALP), the United Progressive Party (UPP), and the Barbuda Peoples Movement (BPM). A general election, held in November 1995, produced a dead heat between the Peoples National Movement (PNM) and the predominantly Indian United National Congress (UNC).
