Honduras - national flag
The flag was officially adopted in 1949. It is identical to the flag of
the Central American United States, which was used in 1818-38. In 1866, the
five stars were added in the hope that the five original Central American
states, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, would be
reunited. The two blue ribbons symbolize the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific
Ocean.
- Countryaah:
What does the flag of Honduras look like? Follow this link, then you will
see the image in PNG format and flag meaning description about this country.
Honduras - History
When the Spaniards began the conquest and colonization of the country in
1523, it was inhabited by a number of Native American peoples, including
the Mayans; in western Honduras lies the ruined city of Copán, which until
800-t. was one of the most important centers of Mayan culture. During colonial
times, Honduras, like the other Central American provinces, was administratively
under the command of General Guatemala.
In 1821 the whole region became independent from Spain, and together with
Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, Honduras formed in 1823
the United Provinces of Central America, which the following year became a
federal republic. The construction, however, gradually disintegrated, and in
1838 Honduras declared its independence. Like the rest of Latin America,
conservatives and liberals fought for power in the country throughout the 1800's.
From the end of the century, banana production became the main source of
income. American companies, especially the United Fruit Company, were given
large tracts of land on extremely favorable terms, often in return for
supporting certain political groupings. The influence of the companies made the
country the prototype of a banana republic.
-
AbbreviationFinder: Check three-letter abbreviation for each country in the world,
such as HND which represents the official name of Honduras.
Politically, Honduras has been unstable, and the quiet periods have been
especially during the dictatorships, for example during the 1933-49 presidential
term of General Tiburcio Carías Andino. The military has always had great
political power, not least after the 1963 coup against President Ramón Villeda
Morales, which was caused by the oligarchy's dissatisfaction with his otherwise
moderate reforms.

In 1971, the country got a civilian president; this was perhaps most likely
due to the humiliation of the Honduran military during the Football War against
El Salvador in 1969, but new military coups or coup-like seizures of power
followed in 1972, 1975 and 1978.
Following pressure from the United States, a process of democratization
began, and in 1981 elections to the Constituent Assembly were held. That same
year, Roberto Suazo Córdova was elected president, and in 1982 a new
constitution was adopted. In reality, however, it was still the military that
had the power. In November 1985, a democratic presidential election was finally
held, and for the first time in 55 years, two elected presidents succeeded each
other in office.
Heads of State |
1933-49 |
Tiburcio Carías Andino |
1949-54 |
Juan Manuel Gálvez |
1954-56 |
Julio Lozano Díaz |
1957-63 |
Ramón Villeda Morales |
1963-71 |
Osvaldo López Arellano |
1971-72 |
Ramón Ernesto Cruz |
1972-75 |
Osvaldo López Arellano |
1975-78 |
Juan Alberto Melgar Castro |
1978-82 |
Policarpo Paz García |
1982-86 |
Roberto Suazo Córdova |
1986-90 |
José Azcona Hoyo |
1990-94 |
Rafael Leonardo Callejas |
1994-98 |
Carlos Roberto Reina |
1998-2002 |
Carlos Roberto Flores |
2002-06 |
Ricardo Maduro Joest |
2006-09 |
Manuel Zelaya Rosales |
2010-14 |
Porfirio Lobo |
2014- |
Juan Orlando Hernández |
Honduras' history in the 1980's was marked by drug trafficking, obscure
political bargaining, and especially by events in the rest of Central America:
the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua in 1979, the El Salvador Civil War, and
the Guatemalan massacres of Indians primarily resulted in the influx of refugees
to Honduras..
Several thousand Nicaraguan opponents of the Sandinistas, the
so-called contras, operated from here, and with the United States' construction
of military airports, training camps, and a military school, the country almost
gained the character of a military base. However, US military activity declined
in the mid-1980's. due to the Iran-Contra affair.
Although the military has lost much of its political influence and has come
under more democratic control, a forced retirement of some of the most rabid
officers caused a coup attempt in January 1991. However, Honduras' internal
problems have not, as in neighboring countries, led to civil war, and in In
1991, several of the smaller guerrilla groups laid down their arms when an
amnesty law was passed.
After the end of the civil wars in Honduras' neighboring countries in the
early 1990's, Honduras took steps to demilitarize society in 1993, a process that
continued with the abolition of conscription in 1995 and the inauguration of the
first civil defense minister in 1999. The country's two major bourgeois parties
, representing different attitudes within the ruling class, continued to rule.
The Partido Liberal ruled for the two periods from 1994 to 2002. Thereafter,
Ricardo Maduro (b. 1946) from the more right-wing Partido Nacional became
president on promises to fight rising crime and carry out more
privatizations. He was succeeded in 2006 by Manuel Zelaya (b. 1952) of the
Partido Liberal.
On June 28, 2009, the country's military president removed Zelaya, carrying
out the first military coup in Central America since the Cold War. The reason
for the conflict in the country was the president's desire to continue in office
and that he had planned a referendum that would change the country's
constitution and secure him another four years in power.
The military opposed it, causing a dismissal of the army chief. Zelaya was
then removed by the military and put on a plane to Costa Rica. On June 28, the
military also installed Roberto Michelletti of the Partido Liberal as interim
president. The coup led to an international isolation of Honduras.
In November 2010, the conservative Porfirio Lobo won the presidential
election; he was installed in January 2010. The election was recognized by the
international community, whereupon the country's diplomatic isolation was
lifted. A Honduran "truth commission" investigated the removal of Zelaya and
concluded that there was a coup.
Like several other countries in Central America, Honduras has a major problem
with gang crime. The country has a very high murder rate and some aid
organizations have pulled out their staff. The gangs, the so-called "maras",
control many poor districts in the cities.
|