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Honduras The Threat of Renewed Instability, 1919-24
In 1919 it became obvious that Bertrand would refuse to
allow an
open election to choose his successor. Such a course of
action was
opposed by the United States and had little popular
support in
Honduras. The local military commander and governor of
Tegucigalpa,
General Rafael López Gutiérrez, took the lead in
organizing PLH
opposition to Bertrand. López Gutiérrez also solicited
support from
the liberal government of Guatemala and even from the
conservative
regime in Nicaragua. Bertrand, in turn, sought support
from El
Salvador. Determined to avoid an international conflict,
the United
States, after some hesitation, offered to meditate the
dispute,
hinting to the Honduran president that if he refused the
offer,
open intervention might follow. Bertrand promptly resigned
and left
the country. The United States ambassador helped arrange
the
installation of an interim government headed by Francisco
Bográn,
who promised to hold free elections. However, General
López
Gutiérrez, who now effectively controlled the military
situation,
made it clear that he was determined to be the next
president.
After considerable negotiation and some confusion, a
formula was
worked out under which elections were held. López
Gutiérrez won
easily in a manipulated election, and in October 1920 he
assumed
the presidency.
During Borgrán's brief time in office, he had agreed to
a United
States proposal to invite a United States financial
adviser to
Honduras. Arthur N. Young of the Department of State was
selected
for this task and began work in Honduras in August 1920,
continuing
to August 1921. While there, Young compiled extensive data
and made
numerous recommendations, even persuading the Hondurans to
hire a
New York police lieutenant to reorganize their police
forces.
Young's investigations clearly demonstrated the desperate
need for
major financial reforms in Honduras, whose always
precarious
budgetary situation was considerably worsened by the
renewal of
revolutionary activities. In 1919, for example, the
military had
spent more than double the amount budgeted for them,
accounting for
over 57 percent of all federal expenditures. Young's
recommendations for reducing the military budget, however,
found
little favor with the new López Gutiérrez administration,
and the
government's financial condition remained a major problem.
If
anything, continued uprisings against the government and
the threat
of a renewed Central America conflict made the situation
even
worse. From 1919 to 1924, the Honduran government expended
US$7.2
million beyond the amount covered by the regular budgets
for
military operations.
From 1920 through 1923, seventeen uprisings or
attempted coups
in Honduras contributed to growing United States concern
over
political instability in Central America. In August 1922,
the
presidents of Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador met on
the
U.S.S. Tacoma in the Golfo de Fonseca. Under the
watchful
eye of the United States ambassadors to their nations, the
presidents pledged to prevent their territories from being
used to
promote revolutions against their neighbors and issued a
call for
a general meeting of Central American states in Washington
at the
end of the year.
The Washington conference concluded in February with
the
adoption of the General Treaty of Peace and Amity of 1923,
which
had eleven supplemental conventions. The treaty in many
ways
followed the provisions of the 1907 treaty. The Central
American
court was reorganized, reducing the influence of the
various
governments over its membership. The clause providing for
withholding recognition of revolutionary governments was
expanded
to preclude recognition of any revolutionary leader, his
relatives,
or anyone who had been in power six months before or after
such an
uprising unless the individual's claim to power had been
ratified
by free elections. The governments renewed their pledges
to refrain
from aiding revolutionary movements against their
neighbors and to
seek peaceful resolutions for all outstanding disputes.
The supplemental conventions covered everything from
the
promotion of agriculture to the limitation of armaments.
One, which
remained unratified, provided for free trade among all of
the
states except Costa Rica. The arms limitation agreement
set a
ceiling on the size of each nation's military forces
(2,500 men for
Honduras) and included a United States-sponsored pledge to
seek
foreign assistance in establishing more professional armed
forces.
The October 1923 Honduran presidential elections and
the
subsequent political and military conflicts provided the
first real
tests of these new treaty arrangements. Under heavy
pressure from
Washington, López Gutiérrez allowed an unusually open
campaign and
election. The long-fragmented conservatives had reunited
in the
form of the National Party of Honduras (Partido Nacional
de
Honduras--PNH), which ran as its candidate General
Tiburcio Carías
Andino, the governor of the department of Cortés. However,
the
liberal PLH was unable to unite around a single candidate
and split
into two dissident groups, one supporting former president
Policarpo Bonilla, the other advancing the candidacy of
Juan Angel
Arias. As a result, each candidate failed to secure a
majority.
Carías received the greatest number of votes, with Bonilla
second,
and Arias a distant third. By the terms of the Honduran
constitution, this stalemate left the final choice of
president up
to the legislature, but that body was unable to obtain a
quorum and
reach a decision.
In January 1924, López Gutiérrez announced his
intention to
remain in office until new elections could be held, but he
repeatedly refused to specify a date for the elections.
Carías,
reportedly with the support of United Fruit, declared
himself
president, and an armed conflict broke out. In February
the United
States, warning that recognition would be withheld from
anyone
coming to power by revolutionary means, suspended
relations with
the López Gutiérrez government for its failure to hold
elections.
Conditions rapidly deteriorated in the early months of
1924. On
February 28, a pitched battle took place in La Ceiba
between
government troops and rebels. Even the presence of the
U.S.S.
Denver and the landing of a force of United States
Marines
were unable to prevent widespread looting and arson
resulting in
over US$2 million in property damage. Fifty people,
including a
United States citizen, were killed in the fighting. In the
weeks
that followed, additional vessels from the United States
Navy
Special Service Squadron were concentrated in Honduran
waters, and
landing parties were put ashore at various points to
protect United
States interests. One force of marines and sailors was
even
dispatched inland to Tegucigalpa to provide additional
protection
for the United States legation. Shortly before the arrival
of the
force, López Gutiérrez died, and what authority remained
with the
central government was being exercised by his cabinet.
General
Carías and a variety of other rebel leaders controlled
most of the
countryside but failed to coordinate their activities
effectively
enough to seize the capital.
In an effort to end the fighting, the United States
government
dispatched Sumner Welles to the port of Amapala; he had
instructions to try to produce a settlement that would
bring to
power a government eligible for recognition under the
terms of the
1923 treaty. Negotiations, which were once again held on
board a
United States cruiser, lasted from April 23 to April 28.
An
agreement was worked out that provided for an interim
presidency
headed by General Vicente Tosta, who agreed to appoint a
cabinet
representing all political factions and to convene a
Constituent
Assembly within ninety days to restore constitutional
order.
Presidential elections were to be held as soon as
possible, and
Tosta promised to refrain from being a candidate. Once in
office,
the new president showed signs of reneging on some of his
pledges,
especially those related to the appointment of a
bipartisan
cabinet. Under heavy pressure from the United States
delegation,
however, he ultimately complied with the provisions of the
peace
agreement.
Keeping the 1924 elections on track proved to be a
difficult
task. To put pressure on Tosta to conduct a fair election,
the
United States continued an embargo on arms to Honduras and
barred
the government from access to loans--including a requested
US$75,000 from the Banco Atlántida. Furthermore, the
United States
persuaded El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua to join in
declaring that, under the 1923 treaty provision, no leader
of the
recent revolution would be recognized as president for the
coming
term. These pressures ultimately helped persuade Carías to
withdraw
his candidacy and also helped ensure the defeat of an
uprising led
by General Gregorio Ferrera of the PNH. The PNH nominated
Miguel
Paz Barahona (1925-29), a civilian, for president. The
PLH, after
some debate, refused to nominate a candidate, and on
December 28
Paz Barahona won virtual unanimous election.
Data as of December 1993
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