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. He joined the Honduran 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 Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

studying mechanical aviation. López served as a

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

for numerous years and eventually rose to the rank of

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Career

López briefly fought for 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. 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.'' 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 The Football War (), also known as the Soccer War or the 100 Hour War, was a brief military conflict fought between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. Existing tensions between the two countries coincided with rioting during a 1970 FIFA World ...

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. 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. López Arellano owned several businesses in

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, 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 Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

References

External links

Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Arellano, Oswaldo 1921 births 2010 deaths People from El Paraíso Department Deaths from cancer in Honduras Deaths from prostate cancer Leaders ousted by a coup Leaders who took power by coup 20th-century presidents of Honduras Honduran expatriates in the United States