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Honduras The Army as Political Instrument, 1838-1922
For the better part of a century, the army operated
within a chaotic political context dominated by warring factions
that sought control of the government largely for personal gain and
wealth. The country lacked strong church and governmental
institutions, and the struggle for control of the central government was
conducted largely by factions of various ideological hues, which
formed loyalties to individual caudillos. By the late nineteenth
century, these factions had coalesced loosely around the two newly
formed political parties, the Liberal Party of Honduras (Partido
Liberal de Honduras--PLH) and the National Party of Honduras
(Partido Nacional de Honduras--PNH).
During this period, although men in uniform performed
largely political functions, the military lacked institutional
authority and identity. Caudillos who sought political power would
form guerrilla bands composed of relatives and friends and
establish alliances with other ambitious politicians. If the
caudillo succeeded in seizing the capital city of Tegucigalpa, his
new government would formalize his military appointments. The
newly appointed generals and colonels could then return to the
provinces where they would assume high-level political positions,
such as governorships. Because they retained their military
titles, the distinction between political and military "command
structure" at the regional level became blurred.
During the early nineteenth century, the Honduran
military performed both security and political functions in the
countryside. Each of the seventeen departments into which the nation
was divided contained a comandancia (command headquarters). A
large number of military detachments also existed at the
subdepartmental level. In 1914, for example, Honduras had eighty local
comandancias but 183 subcomandancias de
pueblo (town subcommand headquarters) or subcomandancias de
aldea (village subcommand headquarters). Whereas the instability
of the central government no doubt contributed to considerable
turnover at the local level, a continuing local military presence was
necessary to keep the peace.
Just as important, local military units performed
critical political functions, which are best demonstrated by the
historical role of the militia during national elections. As election
time approached, governors and their subordinates, the officerpoliticians , would be called back to active duty, and they
in turn would call up the militia--made up of able-bodied males
between the ages of twenty-one and thirty, who were given instructions
on how to vote. Failure to comply with these instructions
constituted a serious breach of military discipline. Such practices by
the military persisted well into the twentieth century.
Data as of December 1993
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