| 1972 Honduran coup d'état | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Armed Forces of Honduras | Dissenting faction of the armed forces | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Ramon Ernesto Cruz | Oswaldo López Arellano | ||||||
The1972 Honduran coup d'état was the successfulbloodless coup inHonduras of theRamon Ernesto Cruz administration by theHonduran military.[1] Led byGeneralOswaldo López Arellano, the military overthrow marked the end of the briefinterregnum of civilian rule (1971–1972) and continuation of military rule in the country.[2][3] Due to corruption scandals,[4] López Arellano was ousted from government, being replaced byColonelJuan Alberto Melgar Castro.
The primary stated motive behind the coup according to military officials, is President Cruz's rejection of the power-sharing agreement between the country's two major parties - theNational Party of Honduras (PNH) andLiberal Party of Honduras (PLH)[5] - which "threatened" national stability, justifying the military to intervene and prevent potential political instability from occurring.[1]
Thus, on December 2, 1972, General López Arellano staged a second coup, placing President Cruz underhouse arrest and assuming leadership once again of the country.[1] In contrast to his previous conservative regime from 1963 to 1970, the new three-man military junta, named the Defense Council,[5] adopted populist policies, such as: agrarian reform which redistributed land to peasants, economic reforms which increased state intervention in the economy, and labor reforms which integrated labour unions into the state's development plans.[6] Political reforms were also implemented, permitting controlled democratization.[6] These reforms aimed to address the concerns of the rural poor and organized labor in order to prevent the rise of revolutionary movements in Honduras.[6]
In April 1975, the López regime was embroiled in a corruption scandal known asBananagate, where the USmultinationalUnited Fruit Co allegedly bribed President Lopez with $1.25 million to reduce the banana export tax, which resulted in the formation of a seven-man commission to investigate the bribery charges.[7] When he was accused of refusing to cooperate with the investigative commission, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces overthrew him in a bloodless coup, replacing the general with Colonel Melgar Castro on April 22, 1975.[7]