Institute for the Study of the Americas

From 1963 to 1978 Honduras endured a series of military coups and disputed elections as well as the 1969 war with El Salvador and the devastation caused by Hurricane Fifi which killed an estimated 10,000 in 1974. Though the country moved towards an ostensibly civilian form of government from 1978, culminating three years later in an election win for the Partido Liberal de Honduras (PLH), the growing insurgencies in neighbouring El Salvador and Nicaragua during this period led to an upsurge in regional tensions, and a growing influx of refugees. As Honduras became drawn into the US-backed Contras' struggle against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua the army used the opportunity to crack down on dissent at home, and reports of human rights abuses began to increase. When the Sandinistas lost the 1990 Nicaraguan election the significance of Honduras to the United States largely disappeared, as did the aid that had formerly been liberally provided, leaving the country facing the same economic concerns as in the 1970s. The materials held here date primarily from the late 70s to the end of the main Central American guerrilla struggle, and deal with both the country's economic situation and with the war and its human rights consequences. The material comes from trades unions and political groups, though not from the major parties, as well as from external human rights organisations and NGOs.