Authoritarian General Tiburcio Carías Andino controlled Honduras during the Great Depression, until 1948. In 1956—after two authoritarian administrations and a general strike initiated 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 Ramón Villeda Morales as president and transformed itself into a national legislature with a 6-year term.
In 1963, conservative military officers preempted constitutional elections and deposed Villeda in a bloody coup. The armed forces, led by Gen. Oswaldo López Arellano, governed until 1971. Popular discontent continued to rise after a 1969 border war with El Salvador, known as the "Soccer War". A civilian President—Ramón Ernesto Cruz of the National Party—took power briefly in 1971 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. Juan Alberto Melgar Castro (1975–78) and Gen. Policarpo Paz García (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.
Following the overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle 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; the Liberal Party government of President Roberto Suazo Córdova took office.
The era of Tiburcio Carías Andino, 1932–1954
Election of Carías
In spite of increasing unrest and grave economic tensions, the elections of 1932 were relatively peaceful and just. In February 1932, the National Party of Honduras (PNH) nominated Carías as its presidential candidate; initially Venancio Alleys was nominated as vice-president but when he declined, Abraham Williams Calderón was appointed. The liberals for their part appointed as their candidate. Carias won the elections by a margin of some 20,000 votes. The General assumed power on 16 November 1932, in what would become the longest period of a single government, in the history of Honduras.
Initially, it was thought that the government of Carías, like that of his predecessors, would not survive for long. Shortly before his inauguration, liberal dissidents rose in rebellion. As Carías took control of the government forces, he obtained weapons in El Salvador and in quickly crushed the uprising.
During the first part of his administration, Carías focused on avoiding financial collapse, improving the armed forces, and building roads. At the same time, he established the foundations to help him prolong his stay in the power.
Honduras' economy continued to be bad through the decade of the 1930s. In addition to the drastic fall in banana exports caused by the reduced consumer demand from The Great Depression, the banana industry was threatened in 1935, by epidemics like the Black Sigatoka. In a year, extensive areas including those in the zone of Trujillo, were abandoned, and thousands of Hondurans remained without work. By 1937 the plague was under control but a lot of zones affected remained without production. Because of this, Honduras lost a big part of the international market.
Carías had made an effort to improve the armed forces, even before he became president. Once in power, his motivation to continue his work increased. He gave special attention to the decadent Air Force by founding the Military School of Aviation (1934) with an American colonel in command.
With the passage of time, Carías moved slowly but without pause, to reinforce his power. He won the support of the banana companies through opposition to strikes and other labor riots. He strengthened his position in the national financial circles and with foreigners through conservative economic politics. Even at the peak of the depression, he continued making regular payments on the external debt, adhering strictly to the terms of the agreement with the shareholders of British Bonds. Likewise, he satisfied the other creditors. Two small loans were paid completely in 1935.
Repression Political controls were slowly initiated under the government of Carías. The Communist Party of Honduras (PCH) was declared illegal. But the Liberal Party of Honduras (PLH) was still active. Even the leaders of a small uprising in 1935 were offered free aerial transport if they wished to return to Honduras.
By the end of 1935, emphasizing the need for internal order and peace, Carías began to repress the press and the political activities against him.
On the other hand, the PNH began a publishing campaign doing upsetting in the continuity of Carías so that it continued the peace and the order in the country. However, the Constitution of 1924 like the one of 1894 forbade the reelection. Carías presented his plan of reelection in front of the delegation of the United States in Tegucigalpa. The Americans concluded that if similar governments had been established in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, did not see why Carías could not extend his mandate. In this way United States threw by embroiders it the 'Treaty of 1923'.
The General Carías then summoned to a national constituent assembly to modify the constitution. This assembly chose to the 'dedazo' incorporated 30 articles of the Constitution of 1924 in the new constitution. The main changes were the elimination of the prohibition on the immediate reelection of the president and the vice-president and the extension of the presidential term from four to six years. Other changes included restoration of the death penalty, the reduction of the powers of the legislature, and the denial of the citizenship and the right to the vote of women.
The opposition Liberal Party (PLH) and other sectors reacted to these changes, treating to overthrow to Carías. Numerous efforts did in 1936 and 1937, but without success. Toward the end of the decade of 1930, the National Party was the only political organization recognized in the nation. Numerous leaders' opposition leaders were imprisoned, and some were chained and forced to work in the streets of Tegucigalpa. Others, including the leader of the PLH, Zúñiga Huete, had exiled.
During his presidency, Carías cultivated a narrow relation with his fellow dictators of Central America, generals: Jorge Ubico of Guatemala, Maximiliano Hernández Martínez of El Salvador, and Anastasio Somoza García of Nicaragua. His narrower relation was with the dictator Ubico, who helped to Carías to reorganize his secret police, and also captured and shot the leader of an uprising in Honduras who had committed the error of crossing into Guatemalan territory. The relations with Nicaragua were somewhat tenser in consequence of the border dispute. But Carías and Somoza succeeded in keeping under control this dispute from 1930 to 1940.
Last period of Carías When winning the second period of six years, ratified the Article of the Constitution that prorrogó the presidential period to said six years and the Presidency in the General headlines Carías and Williams until 31 December 1948.
In 1944 the bonds of Carías with these dictators turned into something not wanted, once those popular uprisings deposed to Situate of Guatemala and to the Salvadorian Martínez Hernández. During a time, seemed as if the revolutionary contagion extended to Honduras.
A plot of civilians and military with the purpose to overthrow Carías was discovered, but crushed by the government in 1943. In May 1944, a group of women began to protest out of the Presidential Palace of Tegucigalpa, to demand the release of the political prisoners. In spite of the strong measures taken by the government, the tension grew and Carías was forced finally to free to some prisoners. This gesture did not satisfy the opposition, and the demonstrations against the government followed extending.
In July several demonstrators were murdered by governmental troops in San Pedro Sula. In October, a group of exiled invaded to Honduras from El Salvador but did not succeed in his efforts for overthrowing to the government. The soldiers remained loyal, and Carías continued in the charge.
Juan Manuel Gálvez
Election and exert of Gálvez
The government of the United States wanted to be done with problems in Central America. Therefore, it urged Carías to allow free elections once his current term ended. For that then, Carías, had more than seventy years. The general yielded to pressure and announced elections for October 1948, in which it would abstain to present a candidate. Nevertheless, Carías found ways to use his power.
General Carias nominated his ex-minister of war (1933), Juan Manuel Gálvez as a presidential candidate for the National Party. On the other hand, exiled opposition figures were authorized to return to Honduras. Of this form, the PLH, treating to surpass years of inactivity and division, nominated to Ángel Zúñiga Huete as its presidential candidate.
But the liberals, quickly convinced that they did not have any possibility of winning and, accusing to the government of manipulation of the electoral process, boycotted the elections. This gave to Gálvez a victory without opposition and in January 1949 he assumed the presidency.
Once president, Gálvez showed to be an independent person. Much more of what had anticipated. President Gálvez adopted some policies of Carías, such as the construction of roads and the development of the exports of coffee. In 1953 almost a fourth part of the budget of the government devoted to the construction of roads.
Gálvez also followed the greater part of the fiscal politics of the previous administration, the reduction of the external debt, and paying off the last of the British bonds. The fruit companies followed receiving a good deal by part of Gálvez. For example, in 1949, United Fruit received a favorable agreement of twenty-five years.
In addition, Gálvez established some remarkable changes in comparison to the last fifteen years. The education received greater attention and began to perceive a greater part of the national budget. The congress approved a law of income tax, although its application was sporadic at best.
The most evident change was in the political sand. A considerable degree of freedom of press was restored. The Liberal Party was allowed to reorganize, as well as other political groups. The workers also benefited during this period. He established the working time of 8 hours, paid holidays paid, and responsibility of the employer for workplace safety and regulations of the employment of women and boys.
The strike of 1954 The relative peace that Honduras had enjoyed for almost two decades was destroyed by a series of events during the last year (1954) of Gálvez' term. Tension in the entire Central American region increased with a confrontation developed between the left-leaning government of President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán of Guatemala and the United States.
Part of this confrontation was due to the expropriation of land from the United Fruit Company by the Guatemalan government. Likewise the United States accused the government of Arbenz Guzmán of boosting the agitation among the workers of the Fruit Company. In 1952 the United States had considered taking action to overthrow the Guatemalan president. But the government of Gálvez, which had given asylum to opponents to this government between them Carlos Castillo Armas, that did not want to cooperate in the direct actions against of Guatemala, and the plans were not activated.