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| Football War | |||||||||
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 Map illustrating the territories seized by El Salvador at the height of the conflict, prior to their eventual withdrawal. | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Fidel Sánchez Hernández |  Oswaldo López Arellano | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 8,000 (ground forces) 11 combat aircraft[1] | 2,500 (ground forces) 23 combat aircraft[1] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
Per El Salvador:[2]
| Per Honduras:[2]
Per Parish priest:[3]
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| +2,000 civilians killed[5][6][7] | |||||||||
TheFootball War (Spanish:Guerra del fútbol), also known as theSoccer War or the100 Hour War, was a briefmilitary conflict fought betweenEl Salvador andHonduras in 1969. Existing tensions between the two countries coincided with rioting during a1970 FIFA World Cup qualifier.[7] The war began on 14 July 1969 when theSalvadoran military launched an attack against Honduras. TheOrganization of American States (OAS) negotiated a cease-fire on the night of 18 July, hence its nickname. Salvadoran troops were withdrawn in early August.
The war, while brief, had major consequences for both countries and was a major factor in starting theSalvadoran Civil War a decade later.
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Although the nickname "Football War" implies that the conflict was due to afootball match, the causes of the war went much deeper. The roots were issues over land reform inHonduras and immigration and demographic problems inEl Salvador. Honduras has more than five times the area of neighboring El Salvador, but in 1969 the population of El Salvador (3.7 million) was 40% larger than that of Honduras (2.6 million). At the beginning of the 20th century, Salvadorans had begun migrating to Honduras in large numbers. By 1969, more than 300,000 Salvadorans were living in Honduras, making up more than 10% of Honduras's population.[5]
In Honduras, as in much of Central America, a large majority of the land was owned by big corporations or large landowners. TheUnited Fruit Company owned 10% of the land, making it hard for the average landowner to compete. Just 8.8% of landowners held over 63% of the land, and the top 1% held over 38%.[8]: 53 In 1966, these landowners united to create the National Federation of Honduran Farmers and Ranchers (Spanish:Federación Nacional de Agricultores y Ganaderos de Honduras, FENAGH). This group put pressure on thePresident of Honduras, GeneralOswaldo López Arellano, to protect the property of wealthy landowners fromcampesinos, many of whom were Salvadoran.[8]: 64–75
In 1962, Honduras successfully enacted a newland reform law.[9] Fully enforced by 1967, this law gave the central government and municipalities much of the land occupied illegally by Salvadoran immigrants and redistributed it to native-born Hondurans. The land was taken from both immigrant farmers andsquatters regardless of their claims to ownership or immigration status. This created problems for Salvadorans and Hondurans who were married. Thousands of Salvadoran laborers were expelled from Honduras, including both migrant workers and longer-term settlers. This general rise in tensions ultimately led to a military conflict.[10]
In June 1969, both countries met in a two-leg1970 FIFA World Cup qualifier. The first game was held inTegucigalpa, Honduras' capital, on 8 June 1969.[7] TheSalvadoran team was harassed by Honduran fans at their hotel the night before the match.[11] Honduras won1–0, causing Salvadoran fans to reportedly set fire to the stadium.[12]
The second game was held inSan Salvador, El Salvador's capital, on 15 June 1969. Salvadoran fans, seeking vengeance, rioted outside theHonduran team's hotel, leading to several deaths.[13] At the match's start, a dirty rag was flown instead of theHonduran flag.[12] It was won3–0 by El Salvador.[14] Anti-Salvadoran riots occurred across Honduras following the loss.[15][16]
On 26 June 1969, the night before the play-off match inMexico City, which El Salvador would win3–2 afterextra time,[17] El Salvador dissolved all diplomatic ties with Honduras, stating that around 12,000 Salvadorans had been forced to flee Honduras in the days following the second match.[7] It further claimed that "the Government of Honduras has not taken any effective measures to punish these crimes which constitutegenocide, nor has it given assurances of indemnification or reparations for the damages caused to Salvadorans".[8]: 105
On 3 July, Salvadorananti-aircraft fired on a civilianDouglas DC-3 in Honduran airspace, causing theHonduran Air Force (Spanish:Fuerza Aérea Hondureña, FAH) to scramble twoNorth American T-28 Trojans[18][19] and forces stationed near the border town of El Poy to briefly clash.[20] The same day, aPiper PA-28 Cherokee, used by theSalvadoran Air Force (Spanish:Fuerza Aérea Salvadoreña, FAS) as areconnaissance plane, was intercepted, but managed to escape capture.[19]
At the request of the Honduran foreign minister, the OAS held an emergency meeting the following day, where it was decided that the organization would "postpone any action of its own" and have the neighboring nations ofNicaragua,Costa Rica, andGuatemala mediate the situation.[21] Honduras and El Salvador were also both urged to "avoid any action that might further endanger the situation".[22] However, the OAS resolution did little to reduce tensions as skirmishes continued.
On 5 July, El Salvador claimed that two Honduran platoons had crossed the border.[23] On 12 July, Honduras claimed that four Salvadoran soldiers had been killed in an incursion, something which El Salvador dismissed as part of a "continuing campaign of distortion of the truth".[24] On 13 July, six Honduran civilians were injured during another skirmish at El Poy, in which both sides exchangedmortar fire.[25][26]
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The war began on 14 July 1969 at around 6 PM,[16] when the FAS attacked Honduran airfields usingP-51 Mustangs,[15][27] as well asC-47 Skytrains and civilian aircraft hastily converted into bombers.[19][28] They mainly targetedToncontín International Airport, where the FAH kept half of its aircraft.[19] TheSalvadoran Army then launched a two-front invasion of Honduras; one contingent headed to secure the prosperousSula Valley, while the other marched along thePan-American Highway toward Tegucigalpa.[29]: 662 [30]: 20 Troops were supported byM3A1 Stuarts, as well as bulldozers and trucks usingimprovised vehicle armor.[31] Initial progress was swift, withLa Prensa Gráfica claiming they advanced 40 kilometres (25 mi) in a single day.[32]
On 15 July, the FAH commenced bombings using their own fleet ofWorld War II-era aircraft, mainly consisting ofF4U Corsairs.[30]: 21 [33] Sortie targets included theIlopango International Airport and oil facilities inAcajutla andPort Cutuco [es].[13][15] El Salvador lost 20% of its fuel reserves in the raids. However, despite the operation's success, the FAH went on the defensive for the rest of the war following a second FAS attack on Toncontín.[19]
On 16 July, in the only major battle of the war, Salvadoran troops led by Colonel Mario (“El Diablo”) Velázquez Jandres, reached and surroundedNueva Ocotepeque, pressing defenses in whatTIME described as a "narrow defile". Following artillery barrages, Honduran forces retreated alongside civilians, leading to the town's capture.[19][3] Both fronts stalled later that day due to an ammunition shortage and increasing Honduran resistance.[1]
One of the last engagements of the war took place on the afternoon of 17 July, a dogfight which involved 4 Corsairs and 2 Mustangs. CaptainGuillermo Reynaldo Cortez, a Salvadoran, was killed;[27] he was the highest-ranking casualty of the war.[34] The Football War was the last conflict in which piston-engined fighters fought each other.[27][35][36]
Soon after the start of the war, the OAS held a special session, organizing a seven nation committee to oversee negotiations and calling for a cease-fire.[16] While Honduran officials were reportedly willing, El Salvador resisted OAS pressure for several days, with one of the biggest sticking points, according to theCIA, being the time window given for troops to be withdrawn.[37]
A cease-fire was arranged on the night of 18 July, which required Salvadoran troops to withdraw within 96 hours and an end to "inflammatory press, radio, and T.V. campaigns", among other things. It took effect at midnight.[38]
Soon before the initial 96 hour deadline, the Salvadoran government sent a document to the OAS, stating, while it would continue to hold the cease-fire, it would not withdraw troops until a guarantee of safety for Salvadorans still living in Honduras was given, reparations were paid, and anti-Salvadoran rioters were punished.[39][40] Honduras only fulfilled the first demand, but El Salvador relented after the OAS threatened sanctions, resulting in troops withdrawing on 2 August 1969.[29]: 662–663
El Salvador suffered up to 700 casualties throughout the course of the war, including 107 deaths. Three aircraft were also destroyed in Honduran air raids. Official records state Honduras suffered 165 casualties, including 99 deaths, but such numbers have been disputed;[2] Nueva Ocotepeque's parish priest reportedly saw 400 dead,[3] while internal CIA documents report up to 1,500.[4] Most historians agree that civilians accounted for the majority of the losses.[6]
Some 300,000 Salvadorans had been displaced; many had been forcibly exiled or had fled from war-torn Honduras, only to enter an El Salvador in which the government was not welcoming. Most of these refugees were forced to provide for themselves with very little assistance. Over the next few years, more Salvadorans returned to their native land, where they encountered overpopulation and extreme poverty.[8]: 145–155 The resulting social unrest was one of the causes of theSalvadoran Civil War, which followed approximately a decade later in which 70,000 to 80,000 died and a further 8,000 more disappeared.[41]
Trade between Honduras and El Salvador, which had been heavily disrupted pre-war,[13] was outright stopped following it.[7][30]: 22 Honduras would go on to leave and thereby further weaken the already ailingCentral American Common Market, a regional integration project that had been set up by the United States largely as a means of counteracting the effects of theCuban Revolution.[30]: 38 [6][42]
Although it had initiated the war, El Salvador played in theWorld Cup; it was eliminated after losing its first three matches against theUSSR,Mexico, andBelgium.[43]
Eleven years after the conflict the two nations signed a peace treaty inLima, Peru on 30 October 1980[44] and agreed to resolve the border dispute over theGulf of Fonseca and five sections of land boundary through theInternational Court of Justice (ICJ). In 1992, the Court awarded most of the disputed territory to Honduras, and in 1998, Honduras and El Salvador signed a border demarcation treaty to implement the terms of the ICJ decree. The total disputed land area given to Honduras after the court's ruling was around 374.5 km2 (145 sq mi). In the Gulf of Fonseca the court found that Honduras held sovereignty over the island ofEl Tigre, and El Salvador over the islands ofMeanguera and Meanguerita.[45]
The dispute continued despite the ICJ ruling. At a meeting in March 2012 PresidentPorfirio Lobo of Honduras,PresidentOtto Pérez of Guatemala, andPresidentDaniel Ortega of Nicaragua all agreed that the Gulf of Fonseca would be designated as a peace zone. El Salvador was not at the meeting. However, in December 2012, El Salvador agreed to a tripartite commission of government representatives from El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua that was to take care of territorial disputes through peaceful means and come up with a solution by 1 March 2013. The commission did not meet after December, and in March 2013 stiff letters threatening military action were exchanged between Honduras and El Salvador.[45]
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