FRAMEWORK TREATY ON DEMOCRATIC SECURITY IN CENTRAL AMERICA  

The governments of the Republic of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, hereinafter referred to as "The Parties," 

CONSIDERING

That the basic goal of the Central American Integration System and of the Alliance for Sustainable Development is to integrate Central America so that it will be consolidated as a region of peace, freedom, democracy and development;

That the goals of the Central Integration System, which were established in the Tegucigalpa Protocol, are to achieve the sustainable development of Central America, which entails implementing a New Regional Security Model, which is unique, comprehensive and indivisible, based on the progress made in the region's intensive process of pacification and integration;

That the countries of Central America have reaffirmed their commitment to democracy, based on a government of laws and the guarantee of basic freedoms, economic freedom, social justice, and the strengthening of a community of democratic values among the countries, which are joined together by ties of history, geography, brotherhood and cooperation;

That the sustainable development of Central America can only be achieved by establishing a regional legal community that will protect, ensure and promote human rights and guarantee security under law, and will ensure peaceful relations and integration among the countries of the region;

That any situations that breach the peace and affect the security of any Central American countries also affect all the countries of the region and their inhabitants;

That agreement on the goals of democratic consolidation is not incompatible with recognition of the special characteristics of each country in the region, which includes the special status of those countries that have decided on the elimination or constitutional permanence of their armed forces;

That in recent years, as peace and democracy have been consolidated, the countries of Central America have made important progress in attaining these goals by demobilizing and reducing military forces and budgets, separating police functions from national defense functions, eliminating compulsory military service, and where necessary, adopting policies on impunity, terrorism and drug trafficking, as well as the growing professionalism of the public security institutions, among other things;

That the Central American Democratic Security Model is based on the supremacy and strengthening of civil power, the reasonable balance of forces, the security of persons and of their property, the elimination of poverty and extreme poverty, the promotion of sustainable development, the protection of the environment, the elimination of violence, corruption, impunity, terrorism, drug trafficking, and arms trafficking. Also, the Central American Security Model will increasingly devote resources to social investments;

That it is essential, for attaining the goals and principles set forth herein, to continue the efforts mentioned and to adopt a model legal instrument for comprehensive achievement of all aspects of the New Democratic Security Model that will ensure the permanence of the gains made;

Agree to sign this Treaty on Democratic Security in Central America, as an instrument to complement the Tegucigalpa Protocol.

GOVERNMENT OF LAWS

Article 1. The Central American Democratic Security Model is based on democracy and the strengthening of its institutions and a government of laws; on governments elected by universal, free and secret suffrage and unconditional respect for human rights in the countries of the Central American region.

The Central American Democratic Security Model has its raison d'être in respect for, promotion of and safeguarding of all human rights, so that its provisions ensure the security of the Central American countries and their inhabitants, by creating conditions that permit their personal, family and social development in peace, freedom and democracy. It is based on strengthening civil power, political pluralism, economic freedom, the elimination of poverty and extreme poverty, the promotion of sustainable development, the protection of the consumer, the environment and the cultural heritage; the elimination of violence, corruption, impunity, terrorism, drug trafficking, and arms trafficking; the establishment of a reasonable balance of forces that will take into consideration the domestic situation of each country and need for cooperation among all Central American countries to ensure their security.

Article 2. The Central American Democratic Security Model shall be governed by the following principles relating to this topic:

a. A government of law, which includes the supremacy of the rule of law, the existence of security under the law, and the effective exercise of civil liberties;

b. Strengthening and ongoing improvement of democratic institutions in each country, for mutual consolidation of them within their own sphere of action and responsibility, through a continuous and sustained process of consolidation and strengthening of civil power, limiting the role of the armed forces and of the public security forces to the authority given them constitutionally, and the promotion of a culture of peace, dialogue, understanding and tolerance based on the democratic values that the countries have in common;

c. The principle of subordination of the armed forces, the police and the public security forces to constitutionally established civil authorities chosen in free, honest and pluralistic elections; and

d. Maintenance of a flexible and active dialogue and mutual collaboration on security issues in the broad sense of the term in order to ensure that democracy in the region is irreversible.

Article 3. To ensure the security of the individual, the Parties undertake to see to it that all actions taken by the public authorities are consistent with their legal system and fully respect international human rights instruments.

Article 4. Each of the Parties shall establish and maintain at all times effective control over their military and public security forces by their constitutionally established civil authorities; shall see to it that those authorities fulfill their responsibilities within this framework and shall clearly define the doctrine, missions and functions of those forces and their obligation to act solely in this context.

Article 5. Public and private corruption is a threat to democracy and the security of the people and of the countries of the Central American region. The Parties undertake to make every effort to eliminate all forms of them at all levels.

In this connection, the meeting of the State comptroller entities of each Party shall assist the Security Commission in the design, establishment and implementation of regional programs and projects to modernize and harmonize legislative, investigative, educational and corruption preventive measures.

Article 6. The Parties shall make every effort to eliminate the impunity of criminals. The Security Commission shall make contact with the institutions and officials connected with this problem in order to help develop programs to harmonize and modernize the criminal justice systems of Central America.

Article 7. The Parties recognize the importance of having their public authorities, military forces and public security forces conduct their activities in accordance with the principles and recommendations in the following resolutions of the General Assembly and the United Nations:

a. 40/34 Declaration on the Fundamental Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power;

b. 43/173 Set of Principles for the Protection of all Persons Subjected to any kind of Detention or Imprisonment;

c. 45/113 United Nations Rules for the Protection of Minors Deprived of Liberty;

d. 3452 (XXX) Declaration on the Protection of all Persons against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Punishment;

e. 34/169 Code of Conduct for Officials Responsible for Law Enforcement.

As well as the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Fire Arms by Officials Responsible for Enforcing the Law, adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Delinquents.

Article 8. To strengthen democracy, the Parties reaffirm their obligation to refrain from providing political, military, financial or any other support to individuals, groups, irregular forces or armed bands that threaten the unity and order of the State or that advocate the overthrow or destabilization of the democratically elected government of any other of the Parties.

Moreover, they reiterate their obligation to prevent the use of their territory for organizing or conducting military actions, acts of sabotage, kidnapping or criminal activities in the territory of another country.

Article 9. The Parties recognize the importance of the Treaty of Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, signed in Guatemala City, the Republic of Guatemala, on October 29, 1993, and the special nature of any constitutional provisions and any treaties and conventions that stipulate the right of asylum or sanctuary.

Article 10. The Central American Democratic Security Model shall be governed by the following principles in connection with this Title:

a. Democratic security is integral and indivisible. The solution of problems of security of persons in the region shall therefor be based on a comprehensive and interrelated view of all aspects of sustainable development in Central America, in their political, economic, social, cultural and ecological expressions;

b. Democratic security is inseparable from human considerations. Respect for the essential dignity of human beings, improvement of the quality of life and the full development of human potential are required for all aspects of security;

c. Supportive humanitarian aid in the event of emergencies, threats and natural disasters; and

d. Poverty and extreme poverty are regarded as threats to the security of the people and to the democratic stability of Central American societies.

Article 11. To contribute to the consolidation of Central America as a region of peace, freedom, democracy and development, the following objectives are established:

a. To guarantee for all persons security conditions that will enable them to participate and benefit from national and regional sustainable development strategies, through the impetus of a market economy that will make economic growth with equity possible;

b. Establish and strengthen mechanisms for operational coordination of the competent institutions, to make more effective at the national and regional level the struggle against crime and all threats against democratic security that require the use of military, security or police forces, such as terrorism, unlawful trafficking in arms, drug trafficking and organized crime;

c. Strengthen cooperation, coordination, harmonization and convergence of policies on the security of persons, as well as border cooperation and furtherance of social and cultural ties among the peoples; and

d. Promote cooperation among the countries to ensure security under law for the property of persons.

Article 12. The General Secretariat of the Central American Integration System shall be in charge of organizing and managing a Central American Security Index and shall from time to time make progress reports on it to the governments concerned, through the Security Commission of Central America.

Article 13. The Parties undertake to:

a. Help spur regional promotion of all human rights and the culture of peace, democracy and integration among the peoples of Central America;

b. Promote the contribution of the mass media in the Parties to achieving the objectives set forth in the preceding subparagraph; and

c. Promote projects to integrate border development, in a spirit of Central American solidarity and democratic participation of the people.

Article 14. The Parties undertake to promote ongoing professional training and modernization of their public security forces to enable them to conduct the broadest and most effective campaign against criminal activity and protect the rights embodied in the domestic laws of each country.

Also, they undertake to put into operation the Central American Institute of Advanced Police Studies.

Article 15. The Parties recognize that poverty and extreme poverty damage human dignity and are a threat to the security of the people and to the democratic stability of the societies of Central America, and to that end, they undertake to give priority to efforts to overcome the structural causes of poverty and improve the quality of life of the people.

Article 16. Tailoring the national budgets to the reality in each country shall be aimed at benefitting the social sector in health, education and other fields that help to improve the quality of life of the people, particularly the most deprived classes of society.

Article 17. The Parties undertake to cooperate in eradicating drug trafficking and the unlawful trade in precursors and related crimes, pursuant to international, regional and subregional agreements to which they are Parties or any agreements they have concluded on these topics, particularly the Agreement Establishing the Permanent Central American Commission for the Eradication, Production, Trafficking in, Consumption and Illicit Use of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances. To this end, they shall set up streamlined and effective mechanisms for communication and cooperation among officials responsible for this work.

Article 18. The Parties undertake to prevent and combat every kind of criminal activity having regional or international impact, without any exception, such as terrorism, sabotage, and organized crime, and to prevent by every means the planning, preparation and conduct of such activities within their territory.

To that end, they shall strengthen cooperation and shall promote the exchange of information among the agencies responsible for migration control, the police and other competent officials.

Article 19. The Parties shall endeavor, if they have not already done so, to initiate the necessary proceedings to approve, ratify or accede to the following international agreements:

a. Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, 1963;

b. Convention to Prevent and Punish Acts of Terrorism Involved in Offenses Against Persons and Any Related Extortion when such crimes are of International Transcendence, 1971;

c. Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation, 1971;

d. Convention on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Persons who are Internationally Protected, including Diplomatic Agents, 1973; and

e. International Convention against the Taking of Hostages, 1979.

Article 20. The Parties undertake to take steps to combat the activities of organized gangs trafficking in persons when such crimes are of international transcendence in the region, in order to seek comprehensive solutions to this problem.

Article 21. The Parties undertake to make every effort to promote cooperation to ensure protection of the consumer, the environment, and the cultural heritage of Central America, pursuant to any international and regional agreements to which they are Parties or any they have signed on these topics, particularly the Agreement Establishing the Central American Commission on the Environment and Development. To that end, they shall establish streamlined and effective mechanisms for communication and cooperation among officials working in these areas.

Article 22. The Parties recognize that for effective cooperation in these areas, it is essential, in the event this has not yet been done, to initiate the necessary proceedings to approve, ratify or accede to international and regional agreements on protection of the environment and the cultural heritage.

Article 23. The Parties reaffirm their resolve to appropriately reintegrate into society refugees, displaced persons and uprooted persons who return voluntarily and peacefully to their territories, so that such persons can enjoy all of their rights and improve their quality of life on an equal footing with others, taking into consideration the domestic situation prevailing in each country.

Article 24. The Parties undertake to take positions and adopt joint strategies for defending their nationals abroad who face repatriation or expulsion.

Article 25. The Security Commission, based on any proposals it receives from the competent regional organs and in coordination with them, shall formulate and forward to the sectoral or intersectoral councils concerned recommendations on the following topics, among others:

a. Strengthen internal controls of borders, ports, airports, air space and territorial seas to detect the following: unlawful trafficking of cultural artifacts and facilitate their recovery; unlawful trade in wood, plant and animal species; trafficking in and handling toxic wastes and hazardous substances; drug trafficking and related crimes, particularly the unlawful trade in precursors, money laundering and other activities; theft of vehicles, boats and aircraft, without affecting any regional mechanisms they may agree upon to prevent and punish such crimes;

b. Define criminal activities and harmonize and modernize their laws on protecting consumers, the environment, the cultural heritage and any other topics that require such action, with a view to establishing a common standard of security;

c. Conclude agreements on the topics included under this heading; and

d. Promote cooperation and coordination between entities having jurisdiction and the public ministries of the Parties with a view to streamlining their activities aimed at strengthening the fight against crime.

 

Article 26. The Central American Democratic Security Model shall be governed by the following principles, in connection with this heading:

a. Equal sovereignty of States and enforcement of the law and stability of legal institutions in their relations with each other;

b. Peaceful settlement of disputes, renouncing the threat or use of force as a means of settling their differences. The countries shall refrain from any act that might worsen conflicts or hamper the settlement of any disputes by peaceful means;

c. Renunciation of the threat or the use of force against the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of any country in the region that is a signatory of this Treaty;

d. Self determination of Central America, by which the signatory states to this Treaty, define their own regional strategy for sustainable development and international coordination;

e. Solidarity and security of the peoples and governments of Central America in the prevention and joint settlement of common problems on this topic;

f. Prohibiting the use of their territory to invade other countries, to serve as a refuge for irregular forces, or to establish organized crime;

g. The democratic security of each of the countries signing this Treaty is closely connected with the security of the region. Accordingly, no country shall strengthen its own security at the expense of the security of other countries;

h. Collective defense and solidarity in the event of armed attack by a country outside the region against the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of a Central American country, in accordance with the constitutional provisions of the latter country and of the international treaties in force;

i. The national unity and territorial integrity of the countries in the framework of Central American integration; and

j. Respect for the goals and principles of the Charter of the United Nations (UN) and the Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS).

Article 27. The following are additional goals of the Model regarding this topic:

a. Establish an early warning system to prevent threats against the security of any of the Model's categories and an ongoing confidence-building program among the countries of Central America;

b. Continue efforts to establish a reasonable balance between military and public security forces, in accordance with the internal and external situation of each State Party, conditions in Central America, and the decisions of the civil authorities of the democratically elected governments of the Parties;

c. Establish a Central American Mechanism for Security Information and Communication;

d. Establish and strengthen Central American mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of disputes, pursuant to the provisions of this Treaty;

e. Coordinate in the region ways to cooperate with international efforts in maintaining and reestablishing international peace and security; and

f. Promote law enforcement on the borders of the countries signing this Treaty, through delimitations, demarcations, and settlement of pending territorial disputes, where appropriate, and ensure the joint defense of the territorial, cultural and ecological heritage of Central America, in accordance with the machinery of international law.

Article 28. Without prejudice to the Annual Program of Confidence Building Activities, which the Security Commission should prepare and carry out, the Parties, pursuant to any treaties to which they are Parties, undertake to:

a. Notify the other Parties in writing, through diplomatic channels, no less than thirty days beforehand, about any land, air or naval maneuver, movement of forces, or military exercise conducted under such conditions as may be determined by the Security Commission, as regards: number of troops, location with respect to the border, nature and quantity of equipment that will be employed, among other things, and

b. Invite the other Parties to witness the above mentioned activities. The Parties shall accord such observers the same immunity from civil and penal jurisdiction as is accorded to diplomatic agents under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, during the duration of their mission and for any acts carried out in the performance of their duties.

Article 29. In the event of unforeseen military operations to deal with immediate security threats, the State that undertakes such operations must report on them as soon as possible, pursuant to the provisions of the previous article.

Article 30. The Parties undertake to combat unlawful trafficking in military weapons, material and equipment, as well as small arms for personal protection. To that end, they undertake also to establish specific, modern and standardized regulations within their national jurisdictions.

Article 31. When a situation of unlawful weapons trafficking cannot be resolved within the framework of national legal procedures, the State or States involved shall endeavor to solve the problem by means of communication and cooperation among their competent officials.

Article 32. The Parties undertake to continue their efforts to limit and control armaments, by means of a reasonable balance of forces, in accordance with the internal and external situation in each country.

Article 33. The reasonable balance and the adjustment of military forces and budgets to achieve it shall take into consideration the constitutional provisions of each Party and their defense needs, in light of such basic factors as relevant geographic conditions and borders, and the presence of foreign military forces or advisers, among others.

Article 34. The Parties undertake to refrain from acquiring, maintaining or permitting the stationing in or transit through their territories of weapons of indiscriminate mass destruction, including chemical, radiological and bacteriological weapons. The Parties likewise undertake not to construct or to allow anyone to construct in their territories, facilities to manufacture or store such weapons.

The Parties recognize the effectiveness of the Treaty on the Permanent Neutrality of the Panama Canal and on the operation of the Canal, as States acceding to the Protocol of the Treaty, which guarantees at all times peaceful and uninterrupted transit of the ships of all countries through the Canal.

Article 35. In order to achieve effective control of armaments, the Parties undertake the following:

Article 37. The Security Commission shall set up a standardized registry for weapons, explosives and equipments used solely by the armed forces or the public security forces; this registry must be updated with information the Parties undertake to provide continually.

Article 38. The Parties undertake to submit, to each other and pursuant to any Treaties to which they may be parties, in the Security Commission in the first half of each year, a report on any foreign military personnel and advisers that take part in military or public security activities in their territory. Likewise, they shall keep a registry of such advisers as perform technical duties connected with training or installation and maintenance of military equipment, and they shall provide a copy of such registry to the Security Commission.

The registry shall be kept in accordance with any regulations the Security Commission decides upon, which may also set reasonable limits on the number of advisers of all military public and security categories and specialties, taking into account the internal situations and requirements of each Party.

Article 39. If any military incidents occur between two or more of the Parties, the ministers of foreign affairs must immediately establish contact to review the situation, avoid any increase in tensions, cease any military activity, and prevent further incidents.

Article 40. In the event that direct channels of communication are not sufficient to achieve the objectives described in the preceding article, any of the Parties may ask that a meeting of the Security Commission or of the Council of Foreign Ministers be called, if deemed necessary. If so, the Chair of the Council of Ministers shall make the necessary consultations with member countries and may call a meeting of the Security Commission beforehand to obtain its recommendations.

Article 41. The Meeting of Presidents, the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Security Commission shall reach decisions by consensus on all matters concerning the peace and security of the region.

Article 42. Any armed aggression, or threat of armed aggression, by a state outside the region against the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of a Central American state shall be considered an act of aggression against the other Central American states.

In any event, the Central American countries, at the request of the state attacked, shall act jointly and in solidarity to ensure in international fora and agencies the legal political defense, through diplomatic channels, of the Central American state attacked.

Article 43. In the event of armed aggression, after exhausting all avenues of reconciliation and peaceful settlement of disputes, the Central American states, shall, if possible, undertake, at the request of the attacked state, to ensure, through such measures and procedures as may be decided upon by the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, in accordance with the constitutional provisions of the states concerned, the United Nations Charter, the Charter of the Organization of American States, and any treaties to which the states concerned may be parties.

The Council of Ministers shall set up an ad hoc operational organization to plan and coordinate in compliance with the commitments contained in this article, as well as operational support in the area of solidary cooperation to deal with emergencies, threats and disasters.

Article 44. In the event of any external armed conflict and in order to preserve the guaranties and rights of their people, the Parties undertake to comply fully with the rules and principles of international human rights law.

Article 45. Without affecting the provisions of the United Nations Charter and the Charter of the Organization of American States on the peaceful settlement of disputes, the Parties reaffirm their obligation to settle any dispute that arises that might endanger the peace and security of the region, through negotiation, investigation, mediation, reconciliation, arbitration, court settlement or any other peaceful means of dispute settlement.

Article 46. The Parties reaffirm their obligations assumed in the Treaty of Tlatelolco to Ban Nuclear Weapons in Latin America, of February 14, 1967, and the importance of initiating, if they have not already done so, the necessary steps to approve, ratify or accede to the following international conventions:

a. Protocol for Banning the Use in Warfare of Poisonous Asphyxiating and Similar Gases, of 1925; and

b. Convention on Banning the Development, Production and Storage of Bacteriological, Biological, and Poisonous Weapons and on the Destruction of Them, 1972.

 

ORGANIZATION AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION

Article 47. The following are the decision-making bodies of the Democratic Security Model in Central America:

a. The Meeting of Presidents;

b. The Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs; and

c. The Security Commission.

The sectoral and intersectoral Councils shall establish the necessary coordination with the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, to which they shall report on all of their agreements and resolutions on security matters.

In this context, the ministers of defense and security or their equivalents, shall advise and assist the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, on topics relating to the Council's operation, within the areas of their competence.

The Advisory Committee established by the Tegucigalpa Protocol may transmit, through the General Secretariat of the Central American Integration System, its opinions to the Security Commission on matters covered in this Treaty, concerning the security of persons and their property.

Article 48. The Meeting of Presidents is the highest decision-making body of this Model and is responsible for dealing with regional and international security matters that might require its decisions pursuant to the provisions of the Tegucigalpa Protocol.

Article 49. The Council of Foreign Ministers is the decision-making body responsible for all matters concerning regional and international security, in its capacity as the principal coordinating organ of the Central American Integration System.

Article 50. The Security Commission is a subsidiary decision-making body for execution, coordination, evaluation and follow-up, and for drafting proposals and recommendations on early warning, and where appropriate, taking prompt action, and is subordinate to the Meeting of Presidents and to the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs.

Article 51. The Security Commission is composed of delegations of the Central American States whose members are Vice Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Vice Ministers or the responsible officials in the areas of Defense and Public Security. The Vice Ministers of Foreign Affairs shall head the delegations of each state.

Article 52. The Security Commission shall have the following responsibilities or duties:

a. Implement decisions on security matters entrusted to it by the Meeting of Presidents or the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and any decisions that it makes itself in the area of its competence;

b. Evaluate compliance with Central American agreements on security matters;

c. Review security problems in the region that require concerted action and draft proposals to deal with them effectively. Such studies and recommendations shall be submitted to the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs for consideration and approval;

d. Establish the necessary communication and coordination, through the General Secretariat of the Central American Integration System, with the agencies, institutions and secretariats of the regional integration subsystems, whose assistance is deemed necessary to deal comprehensively with security problems;

e. Strengthen the mechanisms for coordinating operations in the areas of defense, public security, and human rights cooperation when faced with emergencies, threats and natural disasters;

f. Draft proposals for coordination and regional support with international agencies and bodies devoted to maintaining international peace and security and the fight against threats to the security of persons and their property, which proposals shall be submitted beforehand to the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs for approval;

g. Organize the Central American Mechanism on Information and Communication for Security;

h. Draft activities for an ongoing annual confidence building program, which will involve the participation of the armed forces and the security forces in the region, together with the civil societies in Central America;

i. Develop a system of periodic reports and a system for registry of weapons and transfer of them, seeing to it that the information provided is complete, transparent, and easily verifiable, and make proposals for gradually establishing a reasonable balance of forces in the region;

j. Review the information provided by the Parties on foreign military personnel and advisers and other foreign personnel who might take part in military or public security activities in their territory, pursuant to Article 38 of this Treaty;

k. Review the information provided by the governments on their military security budgets for the fiscal year and draft joint proposals for possible updating of future budgets, taking into consideration the internal situation in each country;

l. Establish contact with the Central American organizations that group together other branches or organs of the state, in order to reach agreement on standardizing and modernizing laws concerning the subject and on training programs for court and police officials;

m. Draft their rules of procedure, which shall be submitted to the Executive Committee of the Central American Integration System for information;

n. Provide all protection measures necessary for the security and confidentiality of information received from the various Central American States; and

o. Monitor compliance with the provisions of this Treaty and perform any other duties given it herein.

Article 53. For the better performance of its duties, the Security Commission may organize its work into sectoral subcommittees, which may be on defense, public security, legal or intersectoral matters.

Article 54. The General Secretariat of the Central American System shall provide technical and administrative secretariat services, at meetings of the Security Commission and its subcommittees.

Article 55. The Security Commission shall regularly meet as often as its members decide and shall hold special meetings when so decided by the Meeting of Presidents or the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs or when requested by one or more of its members to review an urgent matter. All members must be present to constitute a quorum for its meetings.

Article 56. If the Security Commission fails to reach a consensus, the chair is authorized to submit the topic to the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs for decision.

Article 57. The Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, in its capacity as the principal coordinating organ of the Central American Integration System, shall be responsible for adopting and recommending to the Meeting of Presidents any measures on prevention, crisis management, or dispute settlement it deems necessary to deal with situations of any kind that, in the judgment of the governments or the competent organs of the Central American Security System, constitute a potential threat to the security of the states and their people.

Article 58. The governments, through their ministries of foreign affairs, shall submit the situations indicated in the previous article to the Security Commission for review. They may also submit them directly to the Council of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs.

The organs, institutions and secretariats of the Central American Integration System shall, through its General Secretariat, call the attention of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs to any situation indicated in the previous article.

Article 59. Without affecting the Annual Program of Confidence-Building Activities, which the Security Commission is to draft and implement, the Parties undertake to:

a. Establish and strengthen mechanisms for direct and prompt communication among border officials; and

b. Promote the exchange of military and public security views and information, consultations, and periodic visits among defense and public security and similar institutions, as well as to award scholarships reciprocally in their military and police academies.

Article 60. The Central American Mechanism on Information and Communication for Security shall be composed of: