Mayan civilization reached the region that is now western Honduras around the fifth century AD. The Mayas remained in control for the next 300 years after which several different ethnic groups moved into the area from Mexico and Colombia. Contact with Europeans began soon after Christopher Columbus landed on the Honduran coast in 1502. During the early 1520s, the region was subjugated by a variety of conquistador expeditions, each of which laid claim to a part of it. Cortés, who arrived in 1525 via Mexico, imposed some order on the squabbling groups but after his departure, the local conflicts
resumed as before. Only after the discovery of gold and silver deposits in the 1540s was some order imposed on the region; large numbers of slaves from Africa were then imported to work the mines.
Once the deposits were exhausted at the end of the 16th century, Honduras became a colonial backwater and remained so until the collapse of the Spanish empire in the Americas in the early-19th century. As Spanish power disintegrated in the wake of the Napoleonic wars, the Central American territories were in disagreement as to whether to join Mexico or establish their own federation of states. The latter course was chosen, with the acquiescence of Mexico. From a longer-term perspective, this development clearly eased the process whereby the USA came to dominate the whole central American region. During the early 20th century, Honduras was governed by a series of caudillos, notably President Carias who dominated the country during the 1930s and 1940s.
Carias’ rule is widely viewed as a key period in Honduran political history: while the peaceful environment he created allowed substantial social and economic progress to take place, this was at the price of serious internal repression and kowtowing to powerful foreign interests. Something which neither Carias, nor any of his immediate predecessors or successors, were prepared to tackle was the question of land reform, an issue that was the basis of much Honduran politics in the latter part of the 20th century. From the late 1950s onwards, weak civilian governments prompted the army to assume a greater role, launching several coups in the process.
This feature of Honduran politics became particularly important during the 1980s, when Honduras was the main base for the US-backed ‘Contra’ rebels fighting the Sandanista government in Nicaragua. Soon after the end of that war in 1989, national elections were held in Honduras. The two main parties, the
Partido Nacional (PN) and the
Partido Liberal (PL), fought a close contest for both the presidency, which was won by the PN candidate Rafael Leonardo Callejas, and the National Assembly, in which the PL won a small majority of seats.
The 1990s, however, were dominated by the PL, which gained control of the presidency and legislature in 1994 and held on to them in 1997. But at the most recent polls in November 2001, the Nacional candidate Ricardo Maduro recovered the presidency for his party, while the Liberals also lost their majority in the national assembly.
The government was faced with repeated outbreaks of civil and labor unrest throughout the late 1990s as it tried to bring austerity measures to tackle the country’s economic difficulties. There has also been persistent domestic and international pressure to address the numerous human rights abuses that have continued despite the return to civilian government (most recently the killing of large numbers of ‘street children’). Wary of antagonizing the military, the government has moved carefully, although the soldiers are gradually coming to terms with its loss of political influence and by 1999 were prepared to submit to full control by the civilian government. Among those who had suffered the most at the hands of the military was the indigenous Indian population. In 1994, the government offered them a long-overdue package of rights and assistance: not unreasonably, it was rejected as inadequate and relations between the communities and the government remain poor.
Honduran foreign policy during much of the 1990s was heavily influenced by economic matters, in particular the conclusion of free trade and other economic agreements with El Salvador and Guatemala. Honduras is also involved in a number of complex disputes over territorial waters in the Caribbean Sea, involving Nicaragua and Colombia.
President Ricardo Maduro was elected in 2002 and immediately began an offensive against the soaring crime rates. Despite his efforts, crime has continued to rise with street gangs (known as 'maras') being blamed. Drug trafficking and gang violence are major problems in the country and the economy is struggling. Strikes and demonstrations are common.
Opposition candidate Manuel Zelaya Rosales was declared the winner of the November 2005 presidential elections, defeating former communist Porfirio Lobo. He will take power from Maduro on 27 January 2006. Zelaya, standing for the Liberal Party, pledged to tackle the worsening crime problem by maintaining life sentences for the most serious offences and doubling police on the streets.
GovernmentUnder the provisions of the 1982 constitution, modified in 1997, an executive President is elected by popular vote every four years. There are also four-yearly elections for the unicameral 128-seat National Assembly.
EconomyThe economy of Honduras, which is one of the poorest nations in the western hemisphere, relies on agriculture and timber. Light industries produce a variety of consumer goods and there is a small mining industry. The economy draws heavily on various forms of US-sponsored aid. Inflation is 7.7% (2004) and annual growth 5.5% (2006). Growth is dependent on the US economy, the continued export of non-traditional products such as melons and shrimp, and the reduction of the high crime rate.
Honduras suffers from massive unemployment and extremely uneven distribution of wealth. Export earnings have been badly hit in recent years by low world prices and slack demand within the Central American Common Market, of which Honduras is a member. To compound its difficulties further, Honduras is still feeling the consequences of Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which caused an estimated US$3 billion worth of damage.
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