History of Honduras (1982–present)

The modern history of Honduras is replete with large-scale disappearances of left-leaning union members, students and others. The legislature approved a new constitution in 1982, and the Liberal Party government of President Roberto Suazo Córdova took office. Suazo relied on United States support — including controversial social and economic development projects sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development — during a severe economic recession. According to the US State Department, "Honduras became host to the largest Peace Corps mission in the world, and non-governmental and international voluntary agencies proliferated."

As the 1985 election approached, the Liberal Party of Honduras interpreted election law as permitting multiple presidential candidates from one party. It claimed victory when its presidential candidates (who received 42% of the vote) collectively outpolled the National Party of Honduras candidate, Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero. José Azcona del Hoyo, the Liberal Party candidate who received the most votes of the Liberal Party candidates, assumed the presidency in 1986. With the endorsement of the Honduran military, the Azcona administration ushered in the first peaceful transfer of power from one civilian president to another in more than 30 years.

Nationalist Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero won the following presidential election and took office in 1990. The nation's fiscal deficit ballooned during Callejas' final year in office. Growing public dissatisfaction with the rising cost of living and with widespread government corruption led voters in 1993 to elect Liberal Party candidate Carlos Roberto Reina with 56% of the vote. President Reina, elected on a platform calling for a "moral revolution", actively prosecuted corruption and pursued those responsible for human rights abuses in the 1980s. He created a modern attorney general's office and investigative police force, increased civilian control over the armed forces, transferred the police from military to civilian authority, and restored national fiscal health.

Liberal Carlos Roberto Flores Facussé took office in 1998. Flores inaugurated reforms and modernized the Honduran government and economy, with emphasis on helping Honduras' poorest citizens while maintaining the country's fiscal health and improving international competitiveness. In October 1998, Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras, leaving more than 7,000 people dead and 1.5 million displaced. Damages totaled nearly $3 billion.

Ricardo Rodolfo Maduro Joest of the National Party of Honduras won the 2001 presidential elections, and took office in 2002. Maduro deployed joint police-military forces and wider neighborhood patrols to fight crime and gangs. Maduro strongly supported the global war on terrorism and joined the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, contributing 370 troops for eleven months. Under Maduro Honduras also negotiated and ratified the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement, received debt relief, became the first Latin American country to sign a Millennium Challenge Account compact with the U.S., and actively promoted greater Central American integration.

Jose Manuel "Mel" Zelaya Rosales of the Liberal Party won the November 27, 2005 presidential election with less than a 4% margin of victory, the smallest margin ever in Honduran electoral history. Zelaya's campaign theme was "citizen power", and he vowed to increase government transparency and combat narcotrafficking, while maintaining macroeconomic stability. The Liberal Party won 62 of the 128 congressional seats, just short of an absolute majority.