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Honduras THE RETURN TO CIVILIAN RULE, 1978-82
Melgar Castro's hold on power began to dissolve in
1978. Charges
of government corruption and of military links with
narcotics
traffic had become increasingly widespread, leading to
accusations
that the government had failed to adequately defend the
country.
Melgar's hold on power had weakened because he lacked
support among
large landowners. In addition, the Melgar government had
seemed to
be making little progress toward promised elections,
leading to
suspicions that it hoped to prolong its time in office.
Right-wing
political forces criticized the Melgar administration's
handling of
the Ferrari Case, which involved drug trafficking and
murder of
civilians and in which members of the military had been
implicated.
Unions and student organizations correctly interpreted the
rightwing 's criticism as a prelude to a coup. When
demonstrators took to
the streets to support Melgar, right-wing elements within
the
military charged Melgar had lost control of public order
and ousted
him. On August 7, 1978, Melgar Castro and his cabinet were
replaced
by a three-member junta. Led by General Policarpo Paz
García, chief
of the armed forces, and including the air force commander
and the
chief of military security, the junta had close ties to
the large
landowners and moved to protect the military men involved
in the
Ferrari Case.
From its inception, the government of Paz García had
promised to
return Honduras to civilian rule. In April 1980, the
Honduran
citizenry was summoned to the polls to choose delegates
for a new
Congress. The Congress would select an interim government
and would
establish procedures for presidential and congressional
elections
in 1981.
Early indications for the 1980 elections pointed toward
a
victory for the PNH, headed by Ricardo Zúñiga. The PNH
appeared
more unified and organized than the rival PLH, and most
people
assumed that the PNH would be favored by the ruling
military. The
PLH suffered from internal divisions and a lack of
leadership.
Former president Villeda Morales had died in 1971, and the
party's
leader after his death, Modesto Rodas Alvarado, had died
in 1979.
A split had developed between the more conservative
followers of
Rodas and the party's left wing, which had formed the
Popular
Liberal Alliance (Alianza Liberal del Pueblo--Alipo). In
addition,
a third party, the Innovation and Unity Party (Partido de
Inovación
y Unidad--Pinu) had been registered and was expected to
draw
support away from the PLH. The PNH had succeeded in
blocking the
inscription of the PDCH, leading the PDCH adherents to
join with
groups further to the left in denouncing the elections as
a farce
and a fraud and urging popular abstention.
The April 1980 election produced a record registration
and voter
turnout
(see Political Parties
, ch. 4). More than 1.2
million
Hondurans registered, and over 1 million voted--over 81
percent of
those eligible. The high number of voters evidently
favored the
PLH, which won 49.4 percent of the votes cast. Under a
complex
apportionment system, the PLH won thirty-five seats in the
Congress; the PNH, thirty-three; and Pinu, three. This
result
produced considerable debate over the composition of the
next
government. There was general agreement on naming Paz
García as
interim president, and the disputes centered on the
composition of
the cabinet. Ultimately, a PLH leader, Roberto Suazo
Córdova, was
made president of the Congress, while the PLH also gained
five of
the seats on the new Supreme Court of Justice. The cabinet
was
divided among all three parties and the military; the
armed forces
received the Ministry of National Defense and Public
Security, as
well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the PNH
acquired key
economic positions.
The Congress took more than a year to draft a new
constitution
and an electoral law for the 1981 presidential and
congressional
elections. The work went slowly, and the elections
originally
scheduled for August 1981 had to be postponed until
November. In
the interim, the National Elections Tribunal (Tribunal
Nacional de
Elecciones--TNE) unanimously granted the PDCH the legal
status
needed for a place on the 1981 ballot.
Despite the presence of candidates for the Pinu and the
PDCH on
the November 1981 ballot, it was clear that the election
would be
essentially a two-party affair between the PLH and PNH. On
November
29, 1981, a total of 1,214,735 Hondurans, 80.7 percent of
those
registered, voted, giving the PLH a sweeping victory.
Suazo Córdova
won 636,392 votes (52.4 percent), the PNH 491,089 votes,
and 48,582
votes were divided between the Pinu and the PDCH. The PLH
also took
control of Congress, winning forty-four seats; the PNH,
thirtyfour ; the Pinu, three; and the PDCH, one. The PLH also won
61
percent of the municipal councils. Suazo Córdova was
inaugurated as
president of Honduras in January 1982, ending nearly a
decade of
military presidents.
Data as of December 1993
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