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Honduras The Expanded Role of the United States
Until the early twentieth century, the United States
had played
only a very limited role in internal Honduran political
clashes.
Because there was not a resident United States minister in
Tegucigalpa, the minister to Guatemala had been accredited
for that
position. The presence of the United States in the
Caribbean
increased following the Spanish-American War (1898),
however. The
decision to build a canal through Panama and expanded
commercial
activities led to a more active role for the United States
government, as well as for United States companies.
By 1907 the United States looked with considerable
disfavor on
the role Zelaya of Nicaragua was playing in regional
affairs. When
the Nicaraguan army entered Honduras in 1907 to overthrow
Bonilla,
the United States government, believing that Zelaya wanted
to
dominate the entire region, landed marines at Puerto
Cortés to
protect the North American bananas trade. Other United
States naval
units prevented a Nicaraguan attack on Bonilla's last
position at
Amapala in the Golfo de Fonseca. After negotiations
conducted by
the United States naval commander, Manuel Bonilla sought
refuge on
the U.S.S. Chicago, and the fighting came to an
end. The
United States chargé d'affaires in Tegucigalpa took an
active role
in arranging a final peace settlement, with which Zelaya
was less
than happy. The settlement provided for the installation
of a
compromise regime, headed by General Miguel Dávila, in
Tegucigalpa.
Dávila was a liberal but was distrusted by Zelaya, who
made a
secret arrangement with El Salvador to oust him from
office. This
plan failed to reach fruition, but the United States,
alarmed by
the threat of renewed conflict in Central America, called
the five
Central American presidents to a conference in Washington
in
November.
The Central American Peace Conference of 1907 made a
major
effort to reduce the level of conflict within the region.
A
Honduran proposal to reestablish the political union of
the Central
American states failed to achieve acceptance, but several
other
measures were adopted. The five presidents signed the
General
Treaty of Peace and Amity of 1907 pledging themselves to
establish
the Permanent Central American Court of Justice, which
would
resolve future disputes. The treaty also committed the
five
countries to restrict the activities of exiles from
neighboring
states and provided the basis for legal extraditions. Of
special
interest was a United States-sponsored clause that
provided for the
permanent neutrality of Honduras in any future Central
American
conflicts. Another convention adopted by all five states
committed
the signers to withhold recognition from governments that
seized
power by revolutionary means. The United States and
Mexico, which
had acted as cosponsors of the conference, indicated
informally
that they would also deny recognition to such governments.
From the
point of view of the United States Department of State,
these
agreements represented a major step toward stabilizing
Central
America in general and Honduras in particular.
The first test of the new treaty involved Honduras. In
1908
opponents of President Dávila, probably supported by
Guatemala and
El Salvador, invaded the country. Nicaragua supported the
Honduran
president, and war seemed imminent. Perhaps motivated by
the
possibility of United States intervention, however, the
parties
agreed to submit the dispute to the new Central American
court. The
court ultimately rejected the Honduran and Nicaraguan
complaints,
but in the meantime the revolt collapsed, thus briefly
restoring
peace to Honduras.
Along with fighting off efforts to overthrow him,
President
Dávila made some attempts to modernize Honduras. He
invited a
Chilean officer to establish a regular military academy,
which
failed to survive beyond his time in office. Like his
predecessor,
Dávila encouraged the activities of the banana companies.
The
companies, however, were less than totally happy with him,
viewing
his administration as ineffective. In addition, rivalry
among the
companies became a factor in Honduran politics. In 1910
Dávila's
administration granted the Vaccaro brothers a generous
rail
concession that included a provision prohibiting any rival
line
within twenty kilometers. This concession angered Samuel
Zemurray
of the newly formed Cuyamel Fruit Company. Zemurray had
encouraged
and even helped finance the 1908 invasion and was to
continue to
make trouble for the Dávila administration.
Despite the failure of the 1908 uprising, the United
States
remained concerned over Honduran instability. The
administration of
William Howard Taft saw the huge Honduran debt, over
US$120
million, as a contributing factor to this instability and
began
efforts to refinance the largely British debt with
provisions for
a United States customs receivership or some similar
arrangement.
Negotiations were arranged between Honduran
representatives and New
York bankers, headed by J.P. Morgan. By the end of 1909,
an
agreement had been reached providing for a reduction in
the debt
and the issuance of new 5 percent bonds: the bankers would
control
the Honduran railroad, and the United States government
would
guarantee continued Honduran independence and would take
control of
customer revenue.
The terms proposed by the bankers met with considerable
opposition in Honduras, further weakening the Dávila
government. A
treaty incorporating the key provisions was finally signed
in
January 1911 and submitted to the Honduran legislature by
Dávila.
However, that body, in a rare display of independence,
rejected it
by a vote of thirty-three to five.
An uprising in 1911 against Dávila interrupted efforts
to deal
with the debt problem. The United States stepped in to
mediate the
conflict, bringing both sides to a conference on one of
its
warships. The revolutionaries, headed by former president
Manuel
Bonilla, and the government agreed to a cease-fire and the
installation of a provisional president who would be
selected by
the United States mediator, Thomas Dawson. Dawson selected
Francisco Bertrand, who promised to hold early, free
elections, and
Dávila resigned. The 1912 elections were won by Manuel
Bonilla, but
he died after just over a year in office. Bertrand, who
had been
his vice president, returned to the presidency and in 1916
won
election for a term that lasted until 1920.
The relative stability of the 1911-20 period was
difficult to
maintain. Revolutionary intrigues continued throughout the
period,
accompanied by constant rumors that one faction or another
was
being supported by one of the banana companies. Rivalry
among these
companies had escalated in 1910 when the United Fruit
Company had
entered Honduras. In 1913 United Fruit established the
Tela
Railroad Company and shortly thereafter a similar
subsidiary, the
Trujillo Railroad Company. The railroad companies were
given huge
land subsidies by the Honduran government for each
kilometer of
track they constructed. The government expected that in
exchange
for land the railroad companies would ultimately build a
national
rail system, providing the capital with its long-sought
access to
the Caribbean. The banana companies, however, had other
ideas in
mind. They used the railroads to open up new banana lands,
rather
than to reach existing cities. Through the resultant land
subsidies, they soon came to control the overwhelming
share of the
best land along the Caribbean coast. Coastal cities such
as La
Ceiba, Tela, and Trujillo and towns further inland such as
El
Progreso and La Lima became virtual company towns, and the
power of
the companies often exceeded the authority wielded in the
region by
local governments.
For the next two decades, the United States government
was
involved in opposing Central American revolutions whether
the
revolutions were supported by foreign governments or by
United
States companies. During the 1912-21 period, warships were
frequently dispatched to areas of revolutionary activity,
both to
protect United States interests and to exert a dampening
effect on
the revolutionaries. In 1917 the disputes among the
companies
threatened to involve Honduras in a war with Guatemala.
The Cuyamel
Fruit Company, supported by the Honduran government, had
begun to
extend its rail lines into disputed territory along the
Guatemalan
border. The Guatemalans, supported by the United Fruit
Company,
sent troops into the area, and it seemed for a time that
war might
break out. United States mediation ended the immediate
threat, but
the dispute smoldered until 1930 when a second United
States
mediation finally produced a settlement.
The development of the banana industry contributed to
the
beginnings of organized labor movements in Honduras and to
the
first major strikes in the nation's history. The first of
these
occurred in 1917 against the Cuyamel Fruit Company. The
strike was
suppressed by the Honduran military, but the following
year
additional labor disturbances occurred at the Standard
Fruit
Company's holding in La Ceiba. In 1920 a general strike
hit the
Caribbean coast. In response, a United States warship was
dispatched to the area, and the Honduran government began
arresting
leaders. When Standard Fruit offered a new wage equivalent
to
US$1.75 per day, the strike ultimately collapsed. Labor
troubles in
the banana area, however, were far from ended.
World War I had a generally negative impact on
Honduras. In 1914
banana prices began to fall, and, in addition, the war
reduced the
overall amount of agricultural exports. The United States
entry
into the war in 1917 diverted ships to the war effort,
making
imported goods, such as textiles scarce. The shortages of
goods in
turn led to inflation, and the decline in trade reduced
government
revenues from tariffs. The banana companies, however,
continued to
prosper; Standard Fruit reported earnings of nearly US$2.5
million
in 1917. Despite its problems, Honduras supported the
United States
war effort and declared war on Germany in 1918.
Data as of December 1993
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