Romeo Orlando Vásquez Velásquez (born 20 January 1957) is a Honduran politician and retired brigadier general. He was the head of the

military of Honduras The Armed Forces of Honduras (), consists of the Honduran Army, Honduran Navy and Honduran Air Force. History Early republican era The Armed Forces of Honduras were created through article 44, subsection 4 of the First Constitution of the Le ...

from January 11, 2005 to June 25, 2009.

Early life

He was born in

Siguatepeque Siguatepeque () is a city and municipality in the Departments of Honduras, Honduran department of Comayagua Department, Comayagua. The city has a population of 79,520 (2023 calculation). History Founded by the Spanish in 1689 as a religious ce ...

Comayagua Department Comayagua () is one of the 18 departments ''(departamentos)'' into which Honduras is divided. The departmental capital is Comayagua. Geography The department covers a total surface area of 5,124 km2 and, in 2015, had an estimated populati ...

. In 1972, he joined the army, and he attended the

School of the Americas The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly the School of the Americas, is a United States Department of Defense school located at Fort Benning (briefly known as Fort Moore) in Columbus, Georgia, the school bein ...

(SOA/WHINSEC) at least twice, in 1976 and 1984. He has a degree in economy and finances. He is married to Licida Zelaya Lobo, from Olancho, and they have two children. He also has six other ones.

2009 Honduran constitutional crisis

He was sacked by President

Manuel Zelaya José Manuel Zelaya Rosales (born 20 September 1952)Encyclopædia BritannicaManuel Zelaya is a Hondurans, Honduran politician who served as the 35th president of Honduras from 2006 until his forcible removal in the 2009 Honduran coup d'état, 2 ...

on June 25, 2009, for refusing to allow the armed forces to help in conducting a Honduran fourth ballot box referendum proposed by President Zelaya. Vásquez stated that he had refused to help with the vote aimed at removing the constitutional one-term limit because the Honduras Supreme Court had ruled the vote illegal. Zelaya denied the referendum was intended to extend term limits but claimed that it was to ask the people if they wanted to add the question of a constitutional assembly to the November ballot. Later the same day, however, all five judges of the Supreme Court acted in favor of a ruling chief of staff, restoring him to office after they declared his removal unconstitutional. The resolution cited Article 40 of the Constitutive Act of the Armed Forces, Decree 39-2001: "The head of the Joint Chiefs will run for three years in office and only be removed by resignation, incapacity absolute disqualification from office for final decision and loss or suspension of citizenship decreed by competent authority in accordance with the law and by the end of his time on active duty in the armed forces. The military forcibly exiled Zelaya on June 28, 2009, precipitating the

2009 Honduran coup d'état The 2009 Honduran coup d'état, which took place during the 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis, occurred after President of Honduras, President Manuel Zelaya failed to follow a Supreme Court of Honduras, Honduran Supreme Court ruling. On 28 ...

. The Attorney General charged the military leadership for this act, but the Supreme Court dismissed all charges.

Political career

On March 9, 2010,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Porfirio Lobo Sosa Porfirio Lobo Sosa (born 22 January 1947) also known by his nickname, Pepe Lobo, is a Honduran former politician, business administrator, and agricultural landowner who served as 37th President of Honduras from 27 January 2010 to 27 January 2014 ...

appointed Vásquez Velásquez as head of the state-owned telecom company

Hondutel Hondutel (Empresa Hondureña de Telecomunicaciones), is the Honduras government's telecommunications company. It has a monopoly on international calls. History Creation The organization was created on May 7, 1976, as an autonomous organizat ...

. Vásquez Velásquez ran for president of Honduras in the

2013 Honduran general election General elections were held in Honduras on 24 November 2013. Voters went to the polls to elect a new President of Honduras, President, the 128 members of the National Congress of Honduras, National Congress, 298 Mayors and vice-mayors and their ...

, and again in 2017, for the

Honduran Patriotic Alliance The Honduran Patriotic Alliance () is a centre-right political party in Honduras. Romeo Vásquez Velásquez Romeo Orlando Vásquez Velásquez (born 20 January 1957) is a Honduras, Honduran politician and retired brigadier general. He was the h ...

, formed in 2011.Romeo Vásquez presentará 90,000 firmas ''(in Spanish)''
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasquez Velasquez, Romeo 1957 births Living people Honduran military personnel Honduran Roman Catholics Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education alumni People from Comayagua Department