HISTORY
The restored Mayan ruins near
the Guatemalan border in Copan reflect the great Mayan culture
that arose in the fourth century. Mayan artifacts also can be
found at the National Museum in Tegucigalpa. This culture had
declined by the time Columbus sighted the region in 1502, naming
it "Honduras" (meaning "depths") for the deep water off the coast.
Spaniard Hernan Cortes arrived in 1524. The Spanish began founding
settlements along the coast, and Honduras came under the control
of the Captaincy General of Guatemala. The cities of Comayagua
and Tegucigalpa developed as early mining centers.
Independence
Honduras, along with the
other Central American provinces, gained independence from Spain
in 1821; it then briefly was annexed to the Mexican Empire. In
1823, Honduras joined the newly formed United Provinces of Central
America. Before long, though, social and economic differences
between Honduras and its regional neighbors exacerbated harsh
partisan strife among Central American leaders and brought on
the federation's collapse in 1838. Gen. Francisco Morazan--a Honduran
national hero--led unsuccessful efforts to maintain the federation,
and restoring Central American unity remained the chief aim of
Honduran foreign policy until after World War I.
Since independence, Honduras
has been plagued with nearly 300 internal rebellions, civil wars,
and changes of government, more than half occurring during this
century. The country traditionally lacked both an economic infrastructure
and social and political integration. Its agriculturally based
economy came to be dominated by U.S. companies that established
vast banana plantations along the north coast. Foreign capital,
plantation life, and conservative politics held sway in Honduras
from the late 19th until the mid-20th century.
During the relatively stable
years of the Great Depression, Honduras was controlled by the
harshly authoritarian Gen. Tiburcio Carias Andino. His ties to
dictators in neighboring countries and to U.S. banana companies
helped him maintain power until 1948. By then, provincial military
leaders had begun to gain control of the two major parties, the
Nationalists and the Liberals.
Military Rule
Authoritarian Gen. Tiburcio Carias Andino controlled Honduras during the Great Depression, until 1948. In 1955--after two authoritarian administrations and a strike by banana workers--young military reformists staged a coup that installed a provisional junta and paved the way for constituent assembly elections in 1957. This assembly appointed Ramon Villeda Morales as President and transformed itself into a national legislature with a 6-year term. The Liberal Party ruled during 1957-63. In 1963, conservative military officers preempted constitutional elections and deposed Villeda in a bloody coup. These officers exiled Liberal Party members and took control of the national police. The armed forces, led by Gen. Lopez Arellano, governed until 1970. Popular discontent continued to rise after a 1969 border war with El Salvador, known as "the Soccer War." A civilian President--Ramon Cruz of the National Party--took power briefly in 1970 but proved unable to manage the government. In 1972, Gen. Lopez staged another coup. Lopez adopted more progressive policies, including land reform, but his regime was brought down in the mid-1970s by corruption scandals. The regimes of Gen. Melgar Castro (1975-78) and Gen. Paz Garcia (1978-82) largely built the current physical infrastructure and telecommunications system of Honduras. The country also enjoyed its most rapid economic growth during this period, due to greater international demand for its products and the availability of foreign commercial lending.
Seven Consecutive Democratic Elections
Following the overthrow of Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua in 1979 and general instability in El Salvador at the time, Hondurans elected a constituent assembly in 1980 and voted in general elections in 1981. A new constitution was approved in 1982, and the Liberal Party government of President Roberto Suazo Cordoba took office. Suazo relied on U.S. support during a severe economic recession, including ambitious social and economic development projects sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Honduras became host to the largest Peace Corps mission in the world, and nongovernmental and international voluntary agencies proliferated.
As the 1985 election approached, the Liberal Party interpreted election law as permitting multiple presidential candidates from one party. The Liberal Party claimed victory when its presidential candidates, who received 42% of the vote, collectively outpolled the National Party candidate, Rafael Leonardo Callejas. Jose Azcona Hoyo, the candidate receiving the most votes among the Liberals, assumed the presidency in 1986. With the endorsement of the Honduran military, the Azcona administration ushered in the first peaceful transfer of power between civilian presidents in more than 30 years.
Nationalist Rafael Callejas won the following presidential election, taking office in 1990. The nation's fiscal deficit ballooned during Callejas' last year in office. Growing public dissatisfaction with the rising cost of living and with widespread government corruption led voters in 1993 to elect Liberal Party candidate Carlos Roberto Reina with 56% of the vote. President Reina, elected on a platform calling for a "moral revolution," actively prosecuted corruption and pursued those responsible for human rights abuses in the 1980s. He created a modern attorney general's office and an investigative police force, increased civilian control over the armed forces, transferred the police from military to civilian authority, and restored national fiscal health.
Liberal Carlos Roberto Flores Facusse took office in 1998. Flores inaugurated programs of reform and modernization of the Honduran government and economy, with emphasis on helping Honduras' poorest citizens while maintaining the country's fiscal health and improving international competitiveness. In October 1998, Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras, leaving more than 5,000 people dead and 1.5 million displaced. Damages totaled nearly $3 billion.
Ricardo Maduro Joest of the National Party won the 2001 presidential elections, and was inaugurated in 2002. Maduro's first act as President was to deploy a joint police-military force to the streets to permit wider neighborhood patrols in the ongoing fight against the country's massive crime and gang problem. Maduro was a strong supporter of the global war on terrorism and joined the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq with an 11-month contribution of 370 troops. Under President Maduro's guidance, Honduras also negotiated and ratified the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), received debt relief, became the first Latin American country to sign a Millennium Challenge Account compact with the U.S., and actively promoted greater Central American integration.
Jose Manuel "Mel" Zelaya Rosales of the Liberal Party won the November 27, 2005 presidential elections with less than a 4% margin of victory, the smallest margin ever in Honduran electoral history. Zelaya's campaign theme was "citizen power," and he vowed to increase transparency and combat narcotrafficking, while maintaining macroeconomic stability. The Liberal Party won 62 of the 128 congressional seats, just short of an absolute majority.
