Island states ranging from Cuba, the region's largest island, to small archipelagos — tied together by CARICOM, tourism economies, and large diasporas.
The United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (in force 2020) succeeded NAFTA (1994) and joins the three largest economies of the region in one of the world's largest free-trade areas by combined output. It sets common rules for automotive content, agriculture, digital trade, and labor standards.
Founded in 1948 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the OAS counts all 35 independent states of the hemisphere as members, though Cuba does not participate. It works on democracy promotion, human rights, election observation, and regional dispute resolution.
The Caribbean Community (founded 1973 by the Treaty of Chaguaramas) groups fifteen full members — most of the anglophone Caribbean plus Haiti, Suriname, Guyana, and Belize. It operates a single market among most members and coordinates foreign policy, disaster response, and functional cooperation.
The Central American Integration System, created in 1991, brings together Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Dominican Republic as a framework for regional integration.