Honduras is under the control of a conservative faction when it breaks away from the Central American Federation in 1838. It is leaving an organization headed by a Honduran, Francisco Morazán, who is liberal and passionately committed to the idea of central American unity. So Honduras has at its heart, from the beginning, the essential 19th-century clash between liberal and conservative interests. As in most of Latin America, the conservatives are more often the ones in power.
In 1838 the Caribbean coast of the nation (the Mosquito coast) is of little economic use. Indeed during the Spanish colonial period it has largely been abandoned to buccaneers. But this changes in the late 19th century.
The reason is the introduction of bananas. The discovery that the soil and climate of the region is ideal for bananas forges a close link between Honduras and the USA, where there is a massive market for the fruit. The United Fruit Company and other American competitors in the same market eventually account for half of all Honduran exports.
An early sign of this close economic link is the decision by President Taft to send US marines in 1911 to protect American interests during a spell of political turmoil in Honduras. More recently US bases in Honduras have been used, in the 1980s, to train Contras to destabilize neighbouring Nicaragua.
For much of the 20th century there are military governments in Honduras, often surviving in power with American support. In 1981 there is a return to civilian rule, with subsequent presidents being duly elected but frequently finding themselves subject to military interference (and with much international concern during the 1980s about civil rights violations).
Elections in 1997 give the Liberal party a majority in the single-chamber congress. They also bring into office a Liberal president of the republic, Carlos Roberto Flores.
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