Oswaldo López
Drawing of López Arellano from 2008
President of Honduras
In office
4 December 1972 – 22 April 1975
Preceded byRamón Ernesto Cruz
Succeeded byJuan Alberto Melgar
In office
3 October 1963 – 7 June 1971
Vice PresidentRicardo Zúñiga Agustinus
Preceded byRamón Villeda
Succeeded byRamón Ernesto Cruz
Personal details
Born
Oswaldo Enrique López Arellano

(1921-06-30)30 June 1921
Danlí, Honduras
Died16 May 2010(2010-05-16) (aged 88)
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Political partyNational Party
SpouseGloria Figueroa de López
OccupationGeneral, Statesman
Military service
Allegiance Honduras

Oswaldo Enrique López Arellano (30 June 1921 – 16 May 2010) was a Honduran politician who twice served as the President of Honduras, first from 1963 to 1971 and again from 1972 until 1975.

Early life

Lopez was born in Danlí to Enrique López and Carlota Arellano in the department of El Paraíso, an influential family. His parents sent him to an American-sponsored school in Honduras' capital city of Tegucigalpa, where he learned English.[1] He joined the Army at eighteen and subsequently graduated as a pilot from the Honduran Air Force School (Academia Militar de Aviación de Honduras Capitán Raúl Roberto Barahona Lagos). He then spent 1942-1945 in the U.S. state of Arizona studying mechanical aviation. López served as a colonel for numerous years and eventually rose to the rank of general.

Career

López briefly fought for on a military junta during 1957, which ended after democratic elections were secured. After a violent coup, he served as president for the first time from 3 October 1963 until 7 June 1971 before allowing further elections (1971 Honduran general election) to take place in April 1971. They ultimately resulted in Ramón Ernesto Cruz coming to power. On 4 December 1972, López again seized power, in the 1972 Honduran coup d'état.

During his second tenure as president, López oversaw a major land reform bill that sought to defuse tensions among peasants over their forced removal from uncultivated lands owned by landed elites or by US fruit companies. This plan was called the National Development Plan and went through two stages, the first in 1965 and the most significant ones between 1972 and 1975.[2] The Agrarian Reform Law of 1972, a Minimum Wage Act in 1973, and a Land Reform Act in 1975 came in response to the peasant union pressure, such as the CTH, Confederación de Trabajadores Hondureños and the ANACH Associación Nacional de Campesinos Hondureños.[3] The most important unions clamoring for reform were the United Fruit and Standard Fruit unions SITRATERCO and SUSTRAFSCO. These unions also had support among industrial workers.

López led Honduran forces during the Football War.[4]

Resignation

In 1975, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission exposed a scheme by United Brands Company to bribe President López with US$1.25 million, with the promise of another $1.25 million upon the reduction of certain banana export taxes. Trading in United Brands stock was halted, and on 22 April 1975 López was ousted in a military coup led by his fellow General Juan Alberto Melgar, in the 1975 Honduran coup d'état.[5] This scandal is known in Honduras as "Bananagate".

Personal life

López Arellano continued to deny his involvement in the bribery scandal, or that he had received a bribe at all.[6]

López Arellano owned several businesses in Central America, including TAN-SAHSA, the now defunct Honduran air carrier.

His eldest son, Oswaldo, died in 2003.

Lopez Arellano died on 16 May 2010 at the age of 88 while undergoing surgery for prostate cancer.[7]

References

  • Pauly, David and Thomas, Rich (1975) "The Great Banana Bribe" Newsweek 21 April 1975, p. 76;
  • Obituary (in Spanish)
  • Acker, Alison. Honduras: The Making of a Banana Republic. 1988.
  • Morris, James. Honduras: Caudillo Politics and Military Rulers. 1984.
Notes
  1. ↑ "General Oswaldo López Arellano Obituary". The Guardian. 10 June 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  2. ↑ del Cid and Posas, Rafael, Mario (1980). ""Honduras: los limites del reformismo castrense, 1972-1979". Revista Mexicana de Sociología. 42 (2): 607–648. JSTOR 4624918.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ Acker, Alison (1988). Honduras: The Making of a Banana Republic. South End Press. pp. 84–86.
  4. ↑ "Lives Remembered". The Telegraph. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  5. ↑ "Honduran Army Ousts Leader Named In Bribery Case In U.S." The New York Times. 23 April 1975. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  6. ↑ "Ex-Honduran Chief Denies He Or Aide Got Bananna Bribe". The New York Times. 23 May 1975. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  7. ↑ "Oswaldo López Arellano fallece a los 89 años". www.laprensa.hen. 17 May 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2017.

See also

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