ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the post-crisis period—in other words, the processes that are currently taking place in Central America. It explores some of the changes that are taking place and discusses the maquila industry, which has undergone dramatic developments in the region during the past few years. Throughout the entire Central American region, current labor codes are applicable to the country as a whole, including the maquila industry and Free Trade Zones. The chapter deals with the emergence of a new tradables sector, which has manifested in Central America in the form of phenomena such as nontraditional agricultural exports, the maquila industry, and tourism. It focuses on the decline of the formal sector and deals with the changes that took place within the informal sector. The increasing decline in importance of the formal sector meant that the development of informal employment depended on other processes such as that of globalization and its complement, exclusion.
