The Moral of the U.S. Crisis

According to Edgar Balsells, representative of the Central American Bank of Economic Integration (BCIE) in Guatemala , the economic failure striking the United States and the world economy leaves us with the lesson that Central America needs to reinforce local investments and expand business towards Europe and Asia.

After the havoc that the economic pitfall in the United States has caused in Central America, the BCIE carried out studies in which regional economic cabinets participated. The investigations revealed that reinforcing local investments and confidence in domestic resources is the best way to alleviate the effects of the debacle.

“Central American countries are small and are not exempt from the consequences of a global crisis,” declared Balsells yesterday.

He revealed that this crisis leaves a “big” lesson concerning the possibilities that each Central American country has. “We don’t need gourds to swim*, we need to have more faith in internal human resources,” he emphasized.

Anther of Balsells’ recommendations is for Central America to expand its business to Asian and European markets, and not only to North America.

Julio Gonzalez Gamarra, president of the Central American Parliament, insisted that the more integrated the region is, the more force they will have to withstand an economic inbalance.

“We need to take the model of European integration, since the blocks are more positive for trade, and the Central American countries need to work as a team,” stressed Gamarra.

The economic analyst Cesar Garcia expressed his belief that it was risky to declare that Central America needed to invest in Europe and Asia since the situation of the United States will eventually affect those continents as well. He added that the solution to the crisis is decency of the financial sector. “What really happened in the United States was the irresponsibility of bankers who gave credit to those they shouldn’t have.”

In brief

AFERMATH IN THE COUNTRY

Some consequences that the economic crisis has left

-At least 200 thousand jobs have been lost in 10 months

– One of the most hit sectors is the construction of homes, since almost 90 000 workers since December of 2007 were fired.

– United States companies in Guatemala have fired between 20 and 30 thousand workers

– Immigrants have suffered from the effects of the crisis in the United States, since they have lost their jobs, especially in the construction and food sectors

*Editor’s note: American Mexican proverb meaning “we are capable of doing things through our own means”