The Contadora support group ( es, Grupo de apoyo a Contadora, pt, Grupo de Apoio à Contadora) was a group composed by

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. It provided support for the Contadora group from South America, in the conflict between Nicaragua and the United States.

History

The conflict between the United States and the

Sandinista The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto C� ...

Junta in

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

attracted the attention of fellow Latin American countries Colombia, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela, who started the Contadora group to request a peaceful solution. The Argentine president

Raúl Alfonsín Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after more than ...

met the Peruvian president

Alan García Alan Gabriel Ludwig García Pérez (; 23 May 1949 – 17 April 2019) was a Peruvian politician who served as President of Peru for two non-consecutive terms from 1985 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2011. He was the second leader of the Peruvian Apris ...

in Peru, during his presidential inauguration in 1985. Both of them agreed to make coordinated diplomatic actions in relation to the conflict. According to the Argentine chancellor Dante Caputo, the Contadora group was growing inactive, and required a second group to support it. Chancellors Dante Caputo,

Olavo Setúbal Olavo Egídio Setúbal (16 April 1923 – 27 August 2008) was a Brazilian industrialist, banker and politician. He was Mayor of São Paulo from 1975 to 1979, Minister of External Relations from 1985 to 1986, and chairman of the Itaúsa conglom ...

from Brazil and Enrique Iglesias from Uruguay met in

Punta del Este Punta del Este () is a seaside city and peninsula on the Atlantic Coast in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. Starting as a small town, Punta del Este later became internationally known as a resort for the Latin and North American j ...

and had a similar agreement. The creation of a group with the four countries was announced in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

, on July 29, 1985. The Contadora group and the Contadora support group met in Cartagena, Colombia, on August 24 and 25, 1985. Both groups were collectively known as "the group of eight". The group of eight had a second meeting in Caraballeda, Venezuela, in 1986, and issued the "Caraballeda message". Other Central American countries accepted it. However, the proposals ultimately failed because of the reluctance of both Nicaragua and the United States to change their positions. Later meetings attempted to increase the scope of the group. They discussed about fostering the bilateral relations, creating a Latin American parliament, and a technological club. They also created a "debitors club", to make coordinated actions towards creditors of their foreign debt. According to a proposal by Caputo, they rejected the United Kingdom policy towards the

Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute Sovereignty over the Falkland Islands ( es, Islas Malvinas) is disputed by Argentina and the United Kingdom. The British claim to sovereignty dates from 1690, when they made the first recorded landing on the islands, and the United Kingdom has exe ...

. Both groups were eventually replaced by the Rio Group.Aravena, p. 174

References

Bibliography

* * {{Pan-Americanism International organizations based in the Americas Foreign relations of Argentina Foreign relations of Brazil Foreign relations of Peru Foreign relations of Uruguay Organizations established in 1985