Editing Honduras (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Honduras}}
[[File:CPN ST B 01.jpg|thumb|A [[Maya stelae|Maya stela]], an emblematic symbol of the Honduran Mayan civilization at Copan]]

===Pre-colonial period===
{{Further|Mesoamerican chronology}}
{{See also|Bajo Aguán}}
In the pre-Columbian era, modern Honduras was split between two pan-cultural regions: [[Mesoamerica]] in the west and the [[Isthmo-Colombian area]] in the east. Each complex had a "core area" within Honduras (the [[Sula Valley]] for Mesoamerica, and [[La Mosquitia (Honduras)|La Mosquitia]] for the Isthmo-Colombian area), and the intervening area was one of gradual transition. However, these concepts had no meaning in the Pre-Columbian era itself and represent extremely diverse areas. The [[Lenca|Lenca people]] of the interior highlands are also generally considered to be culturally Mesoamerican, though the extent of linkage with other areas varied over time (for example, expanding during the zenith of the [[Toltec Empire]]).

In the extreme west, [[Maya civilization]] flourished for hundreds of years. The dominant, best known, and best studied state within Honduras's borders was in [[Copán]], which was located in a mainly non-Maya area, or on the frontier between Maya and non-Maya areas. Copán declined with other Lowland centres during the conflagrations of the [[Classic Maya collapse|Terminal Classic]] in the 9th century. The Maya of this civilization survive in western Honduras as the [[Ch'orti' people|Ch'orti']], isolated from their Choltian linguistic peers to the west.<ref>
{{citation
|title=Language Contact, Inherited Similarity and Social Difference: The story of linguistic interaction in the Maya lowlands
|author=Danny Law
|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company
|date=15 June 2014
|page=105
}}
</ref>

However, Copán represents only a fraction of Honduran pre-Columbian history. Remnants of other civilizations are found throughout the country. Archaeologists have studied sites such as {{interlanguage link|Naco (Honduras)|lt=Naco|es|Naco (Honduras)}} and La Sierra in the Naco Valley, [[Los Naranjos, Honduras|Los Naranjos]] on [[Lake Yojoa]], [[Yarumela]] in the Comayagua Valley,<ref>{{cite journal
|title=A Preliminary Settlement Pattern Study of a Prehistoric Cultural Corridor: The Comayagua Valley, Honduras
|author=Boyd Dixon
|jstor=529833
|journal=Journal of Field Archaeology
|volume=16
|issue=3
|pages=257–271
|date=1989
|doi=10.2307/529833
}}
</ref> [[La Ceiba]] and Salitron Viejo<ref>{{Cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ba_AAAAQBAJ
|title=Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia
|author1=Susan Toby Evans
|author2=David L. Webster
|publisher=Routledge
|year=2013
|isbn=978-1136801860
|via=Google Books
|access-date=14 July 2016
|archive-date=21 March 2023
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321043123/https://books.google.com/books?id=6ba_AAAAQBAJ
|url-status=live
}}</ref> (both now under the [[El Cajón Dam (Honduras)|Cajón Dam]] [[reservoir]]), Selin Farm and Cuyamel in the Aguan valley, [[Cerro Palenque]], Travesia, Curruste, Ticamaya, Despoloncal, and [[Playa de los Muertos]] in the lower [[Ulúa River]] valley, and many others.

In 2012, LiDAR scanning revealed that several previously unknown high density settlements existed in La Mosquitia, corresponding to the legend of "[[La Ciudad Blanca]]". Excavation and study has since improved knowledge of the region's history. It is estimated that these settlements reached their zenith from 500 to 1000 AD.

=== Spanish conquest (1524–1539) ===
{{main|Spanish conquest of Honduras}}
[[File:Retrato de Hernán Cortés.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Hernán Cortés]], one of the conquerors of Honduras]]
On his fourth and the final voyage to the [[New World]] in 1502, [[Christopher Columbus]] landed near the modern town of [[Trujillo, Honduras|Trujillo]], near Guaimoreto Lagoon, becoming the first European to visit the [[Bay Islands Department|Bay Islands]] on the coast of Honduras.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://honduras.com/history/ |title=Columbus and the History of Honduras |publisher=Office of the Honduras National Chamber of Tourism |access-date=27 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100723233247/http://www.honduras.com/history/ |archive-date=23 July 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 30 July 1502, Columbus sent his brother [[Bartholomew Columbus|Bartholomew]] to explore the islands and Bartholomew encountered a Mayan trading vessel from Yucatán, carrying well-dressed Maya and a rich cargo.<ref>{{cite book |author=Perramon, Francesc Ligorred |chapter=Los primeros contactos lingüísticos de los españoles en Yucatán |title=Los mayas de los tiempos tardíos |publisher=Sociedad Española de Estudios Mayas |location=Madrid, Spain |year=1986 |url=http://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/2775333.pdf |page=242 |oclc=16268597 |isbn=9788439871200 |editor1=Miguel Rivera |editor2=Andrés Ciudad |language=es |access-date=23 June 2020 |archive-date=12 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412021428/https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/2775333.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="clendinnen2003">{{cite book|author=Clendinnen, Inga |author-link=Inga Clendinnen |orig-year=1988 |year=2003 |title=Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatan, 1517–1570 |edition=2nd |isbn=0-521-52731-7 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge, UK |url= https://archive.org/details/ambivalentconque00inga |url-access=registration
|oclc=50868309|pages=3–4}}</ref> Bartholomew's men stole the cargo they wanted and kidnapped the ship's elderly captain to serve as an interpreter<ref name="clendinnen2003" /> in the first recorded encounter between the Spanish and the Maya.<ref>{{cite book |ref={{sfnref|Sharer|Traxler|2006}} |author=Sharer, Robert J. |author-link=Robert Sharer |author2=Loa P. Traxler |year=2006 |title=The Ancient Maya |edition=6th |location=Stanford, California |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=0-8047-4817-9 |oclc=57577446 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientmaya0006shar |page=758}}</ref>

In March 1524, [[Gil González Dávila]] became the first Spaniard to enter Honduras as a [[conquistador]].<ref name="Apuntes">{{cite book |title=Apuntes para la Historia de Honduras |editor-last=Vera |editor-first=Robustiano |year=1899 |access-date=9 February 2016 |location=Santiago |trans-title=Notes on the History of Honduras |language=es |url=https://archive.org/details/apuntesparalahis00vera|publisher=Santiago de Chile : Imp. de "El Correo," }}</ref><ref name=Guide>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ar4Zf2QhhxIC&pg=PT19|title=Adventure Guide to Copan & Western Honduras|access-date=29 January 2011|first1=Cindy|last1=Kilgore|first2=Alan|last2=Moore|publisher=Hunter publishing|quote="Spanish conquistadores did not become interested in colonization of Honduras until the 1520s when Cristobal de Olid the first European colony in Triunfo de la Cruz in 1524. A previous expedition headed by Gil Gonzalez Davila ..."|isbn=9781588439222|date=27 May 2014|archive-date=21 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321043129/https://books.google.com/books?id=ar4Zf2QhhxIC&pg=PT19|url-status=live}}</ref> followed by [[Hernán Cortés]], who had brought forces down from Mexico. Much of the conquest took place in the following two decades, first by groups loyal to [[Cristóbal de Olid]], and then by those loyal to [[Francisco de Montejo]] but most particularly by those following Alvarado.{{who|date=December 2017}} In addition to Spanish resources, the conquerors relied heavily on armed forces from Mexico{{snd}}[[Tlaxcalans]] and [[Aztec|Mexica]] armies of thousands who remained garrisoned in the region.

Resistance to conquest was led in particular by [[Lempira (Lenca ruler)|Lempira]]. Many regions in the north of Honduras never fell to the Spanish, notably the [[Mosquito Coast|Miskito Kingdom]]. After the Spanish conquest, Honduras became part of Spain's vast empire in the New World within the [[Captaincy General of Guatemala|Kingdom of Guatemala]]. Trujillo and [[Gracias a Dios Department|Gracias]] were the first city-capitals. The Spanish ruled the region for approximately three centuries.

===Spanish Honduras (1524–1821)===
[[File:San Manuel Colohete,Lempira 1.JPG|thumb|[[Church of San Manuel de Colohete]]]]
Honduras was organized as a province of the [[Captaincy General of Guatemala|Kingdom of Guatemala]] and the capital was fixed, first at Trujillo on the Atlantic coast, and later at [[Comayagua]], and finally at [[Tegucigalpa]] in the central part of the country.

[[Silver mining]] was a key factor in the Spanish conquest and settlement of Honduras.<ref name=Newson1>{{cite journal
|last=Newson
|first=Linda
|title=Labour in the Colonial Mining Industry of Honduras
|date=October 1982 |volume=39
|journal=The Americas
|doi=10.2307/981334
|issue=2
|pages=185–203
|jstor=981334
}}</ref> Initially the mines were worked by local people through the [[encomienda]] system, but as disease and resistance made this option less available, slaves from other parts of Central America were brought in. When local slave trading stopped at the end of the sixteenth century, African slaves, mostly from [[Angola]], were imported.<ref name=Cost>
{{cite book
|first=Linda
|last=Newson
|title=The Cost of Conquest: Indian Decline in Honduras Under Spanish Rule: Dellplain Latin American Studies, No. 20
|publisher=Westview Press
|location=Boulder
|isbn=978-0813372730
|year=1987
}}</ref> After about 1650, very few slaves or other outside workers arrived in Honduras.

Although the Spanish conquered the southern or Pacific portion of Honduras fairly quickly, they were less successful on the northern, or Atlantic side. They managed to found a few towns along the coast, at [[Puerto Cortés|Puerto Caballos]] and Trujillo in particular, but failed to conquer the eastern portion of the region and many pockets of independent indigenous people as well. The [[Mosquito Coast|Miskito Kingdom]] in the northeast was particularly effective at resisting conquest. The Miskito Kingdom found support from northern European privateers, pirates and especially the British formerly English colony of [[Jamaica]], which placed much of the area under its protection after 1740.

[[File:Exterior Fuerte de Omoa Honduras.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of San Fernando de Omoa|Fortaleza de San Fernando de Omoa]] was built by the Spanish to protect the coast of Honduras from English pirates.]]

===Independence (1821)===
Honduras gained independence from Spain in 1821 and [[Central America under Mexican rule|was a part]] of the [[First Mexican Empire]] until 1823, when it became part of the [[United Provinces of Central America]]. It has been an independent [[republic]] and has held regular elections since 1838. In the 1840s and 1850s Honduras participated in several failed attempts at Central American unity, such as the Confederation of Central America (1842–1845), the covenant of Guatemala (1842), the Diet of Sonsonate (1846), the Diet of Nacaome (1847) and National Representation in Central America (1849–1852). Although Honduras eventually adopted the name Republic of Honduras, the unionist ideal never waned, and Honduras was one of the Central American countries that pushed the hardest for a policy of regional unity.

Policies favoring [[international trade]] and investment began in the 1870s.  Soon, foreign interests became involved, first in shipping from the north coast, especially tropical fruit and most notably bananas, and then in building railroads. [[Comayagua]] was the capital of Honduras until 1880, when the capital moved to [[Tegucigalpa]]. In 1888, a projected railroad line from the Caribbean coast to Tegucigalpa ran out of money when it reached [[San Pedro Sula]]. As a result, San Pedro grew into the nation's primary industrial center and second-largest city.

Since independence, nearly 300 small internal rebellions and civil wars have occurred in the country, including some changes of régime.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=United States. Department of State. Bureau of Public Affairs. Office of Public |first1=Communication. |title=Honduras. |journal=Department of State Publication. Background Notes Series |date=May 1992 |pages=1–5 |pmid=12178036 |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12178036/ |access-date=2 December 2021 |archive-date=3 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203003752/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12178036/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Honduras (05/03) |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/honduras/33233.htm |website=U.S. Department of State |access-date=2 December 2021 |archive-date=3 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203003758/https://2009-2017.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/honduras/33233.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

===20th century and the role of American companies===
{{See also|Banana Wars}}
In the late nineteenth century, Honduras granted land and substantial exemptions to several US-based fruit and infrastructure companies in return for developing the country's northern regions. Thousands of workers came to the north coast as a result to work in [[Banana production in Honduras|banana plantations]] and other businesses that grew up around the export industry. Banana-exporting companies, dominated until 1930 by the [[Cuyamel Fruit Company]], as well as the [[United Fruit Company]], and [[Standard Fruit Company]], built an [[enclave economy]] in northern Honduras, controlling [[infrastructure]] and creating self-sufficient, tax-exempt sectors that contributed relatively little to economic growth. American troops landed in Honduras in 1903, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1924 and 1925.<ref name=Becker>{{cite web
|first=Marc
|last=Becker
|url=https://www.yachana.org/teaching/resources/interventions.html
|title=History of U.S. Interventions in Latin America
|publisher=Marc Becker
|year=2011
|access-date=9 February 2016
|archive-date=7 November 2019
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191107010937/https://www.yachana.org/teaching/resources/interventions.html
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

In 1904, the writer [[O. Henry]] coined the term "[[banana republic]]" to describe Honduras,<ref name=BananaRep>{{Cite news
|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/11/economist-explains-16
|title=Where did banana republics get their name?
|newspaper=The Economist
|date= 2013-11-21
|access-date= 2016-02-16
|archive-date= 2020-11-14
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114011541/https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2013/11/21/where-did-banana-republics-get-their-name
|url-status=live
}}</ref> publishing a book called ''[[Cabbages and Kings (novel)|Cabbages and Kings]]'', about a fictional country, [[Anchuria]], inspired by his experiences in Honduras, where he had lived for six months.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Malcolm D. MacLean |date=Summer 1968 |title=O. Henry in Honduras |journal=American Literary Realism, 1870–1910 |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=36–46 |jstor=27747601 }}</ref> In ''The Admiral'', O. Henry refers to the nation as a "small maritime banana republic"; naturally, the fruit was the entire basis of its economy.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/01/is-the-us-on-the-verge-of-becoming-a-banana-republic/267048/b |title=Is the U.S. on the Verge of Becoming a Banana Republic? |first1=David A. |last1=Graham |date=10 January 2013 |journal=[[The Atlantic]] |access-date=10 January 2018 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308143408/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/01/is-the-us-on-the-verge-of-becoming-a-banana-republic/267048/b/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=[[O. Henry]]|title=Cabbages and Kings|publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday, Page & Company]]|location=New York City|year=1904|url=https://archive.org/details/cabbagesandking04henrgoog |quote=banana republic Anchuria.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cabbagesandking04henrgoog/page/n160 132], 296}}</ref> According to a literary analyst writing for ''[[The Economist]]'', "his phrase neatly conjures up the image of a tropical, agrarian country. But its real meaning is sharper: it refers to the fruit companies from the United States that came to exert extraordinary influence over the politics of Honduras and its neighbors."<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/where-we-got-term-banana-republic-180961813/#geHDsKSeDYOltxOK.99 |title=Smartnews 'Where We Got the Term' "Banana Republic" Hint: it's not a great moment in American history |first1=Kat |last1=Eschner |date=18 January 2017 |journal=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |access-date=10 January 2018 |archive-date=2 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102231017/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/where-we-got-term-banana-republic-180961813/#geHDsKSeDYOltxOK.99 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=BananaRep/> In addition to drawing Central American workers north, the fruit companies encouraged immigration of workers from the [[English-speaking Caribbean]], notably [[Jamaica]] and [[Belize]], which introduced an African-descended, English-speaking and largely Protestant population into the country, although many of these workers left following changes to immigration law in 1939.<ref name=Chambers>
{{cite book
|first=Glen
|last=Chambers
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d1Zlr9m3eTwC
|title=Race Nation and West Indian Immigration to Honduras, 1890–1940
|location=Baton Rouge
|publisher=Louisiana State University Press
|date=2010
|isbn=978-0807135570
}}</ref>
Honduras joined the [[Allies of World War II|Allied Nations]] after [[attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]], on 8 December 1941, and signed the [[Declaration by United Nations]] on 1 January 1942, along with twenty-five other governments.

Constitutional crises in the 1940s led to reforms in the 1950s. One reform gave workers permission to organize, and a 1954 [[General strike of 1954 (Honduras)|general strike]] paralyzed the northern part of the country for more than two months, but led to reforms. In 1963 a [[1963 Honduran coup d'état|military coup]] unseated democratically elected President [[Ramón Villeda Morales]]. In 1960, the northern part of what was the [[Mosquito Coast]] was transferred from Nicaragua to Honduras by the [[International Court of Justice]].<ref name="auto"/>

===War and upheaval (1969–1999)===
In 1969, Honduras and [[El Salvador]] fought what became known as the [[Football War]].<ref name="football war">{{cite news |title=Honduras v El Salvador: The football match that kicked off a war |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-48673853 |work=BBC News |date=27 June 2019 |access-date=20 August 2019 |archive-date=3 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203003816/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-48673853 |url-status=live }}</ref> Border tensions led to acrimony between the two countries after [[Oswaldo López Arellano]], the president of Honduras, blamed the deteriorating Honduran economy on immigrants from El Salvador. The relationship reached a low when El Salvador met Honduras for a three-round football elimination match preliminary to the [[FIFA World Cup|World Cup]].<ref name="FW">{{cite news
|title=Wars of the World: Soccer War 1969
|url=https://www.onwar.com/aced/chrono/c1900s/yr60/fsoccer1969.htm
|publisher=OnWar.com
|access-date=9 February 2016
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425075043/https://www.onwar.com/aced/chrono/c1900s/yr60/fsoccer1969.htm
|archive-date=25 April 2016
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>

Tensions escalated and on 14 July 1969, the Salvadoran army invaded Honduras.<ref name="football war"/> The [[Organization of American States]] (OAS) negotiated a cease-fire which took effect on 20 July and brought about a withdrawal of Salvadoran troops in early August.<ref name="FW"/> Contributing factors to the conflict were a boundary dispute and the presence of thousands of Salvadorans living in Honduras illegally. After the week-long war, as many as 130,000 Salvadoran immigrants were expelled.<ref name="LOC">{{cite book
|url=http://countrystudies.us/honduras/22.htm
|title=Honduras
|chapter=War with El Salvador
|editor-last=Merrill
|editor-first=Tim
|publisher=Library of Congress Country Studies
|year=1995
|access-date=9 February 2016
|archive-date=5 March 2016
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305001807/http://countrystudies.us/honduras/22.htm
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

[[Hurricane Fifi]] caused severe damage when it skimmed the northern coast of Honduras on 18 and 19 September 1974. [[Juan Alberto Melgar Castro|Melgar Castro]] (1975–78) and Paz Garcia (1978–82) largely built the current physical infrastructure and telecommunications system of Honduras.<ref name="DOS-Honduras">{{cite web
|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1922.htm
|title=U.S. Relations With Honduras
|publisher=United States Department of State
|date=9 April 2015
|access-date=9 February 2016
|archive-date=4 June 2019
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604184805/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1922.htm
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

[[File:Mitch-Tegucigalpa Damage.JPG|thumb|Part of the massive damage caused by [[Hurricane Mitch]] in Tegucigalpa, 1998]]
In 1979, the country returned to civilian rule<!-- for the first time since 1963? -->. A [[constituent assembly]] was popularly elected in April 1980 to write a new constitution, and general elections were held in November 1981. The constitution was approved in 1982 and the [[Liberal Party of Honduras|PLH]] government of [[Roberto Suazo Córdova|Roberto Suazo]] won the election with a promise to carry out an ambitious program of economic and social development to tackle the recession in which Honduras found itself. He launched ambitious social and economic development projects sponsored by American development aid. Honduras became host to the largest [[Peace Corps]] mission in the world, and nongovernmental and international voluntary agencies proliferated. The Peace Corps withdrew its volunteers in 2012, citing safety concerns.<ref name=CSM>{{cite news
|title=Peace Corps Honduras: Why are all the US volunteers leaving?
|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0118/Peace-Corps-Honduras-Why-are-all-the-US-volunteers-leaving
|first1=Freddy
|last1=Cuevas
|first2=Adriana
|last2=Gomez
|agency=[[Associated Press]]
|work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]
|date=18 January 2012
|access-date=9 February 2016
|archive-date=3 February 2022
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203005216/https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0118/Peace-Corps-Honduras-Why-are-all-the-US-volunteers-leaving
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

During the early 1980s, the United States established a continuing military presence in Honduras to support El Salvador, the [[Contra (guerrillas)|Contra]] guerrillas fighting the [[Nicaragua]]n government, and also develop an airstrip and modern port in Honduras. Though spared the bloody civil wars wracking its neighbors, the [[Honduran Army]] quietly waged campaigns against [[Marxist–Leninist]] militias such as the [[People's Liberation Movement-Chinchoneros|Cinchoneros]] Popular Liberation Movement, notorious for kidnappings and bombings,<ref>{{cite web
|title=Cinchoneros Popular Liberation Movement
|url=http://www.start.umd.edu/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=3987
|publisher=[[University of Maryland]]
|access-date=9 February 2016
|archive-date=26 February 2016
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160226192117/http://www.start.umd.edu/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=3987
|url-status=live
}}</ref> and against many non-militants as well. The operation included a campaign of extrajudicial killings by government units, most notably the CIA-trained [[Battalion 3-16 (Honduras)|Battalion 316]].<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-negroponte3a,0,3966794.story
|title=A survivor tells her story
|first1=Gary
|last1=Cohn
|first2=Ginger
|last2=Thompson
|work=[[The Baltimore Sun]]
|date=15 June 1995
|access-date=9 February 2016
|archive-date=31 March 2007
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070331135918/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-negroponte3a,0,3966794.story
|url-status=live
}}</ref> Honduras was found internationally liable for a series of [[enforced disappearance]]s during this time period, culminating in [[Velásquez-Rodríguez v. Honduras]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Witten |first=Samuel M. |date=April 1989 |title=Velásquez Rodríguez Case |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law/article/abs/velasquez-rodriguez-case/6A85F6193511E1BAA894E4CB50611AF4 |journal=American Journal of International Law |language=en |volume=83 |issue=2 |pages=361–367 |doi=10.2307/2202751 |jstor=2202751 |issn=0002-9300}}</ref>

In 1998, [[Hurricane Mitch]] caused massive and widespread destruction. Honduran President [[Carlos Roberto Flores]] said that fifty years of progress in the country had been reversed. Mitch destroyed about 70% of the country's crops and an estimated 70–80% of the transportation infrastructure, including nearly all bridges and secondary roads. Across Honduras 33,000 houses were destroyed, and an additional 50,000 damaged. Some 5,000 people killed, and 12,000 more injured. Total losses were estimated at US$3 billion.<ref>
{{cite web|url=http://mitchnts1.cr.usgs.gov/country/honduras.html |title=USGS Hurricane Mitch |access-date=5 April 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060316024027/http://mitchnts1.cr.usgs.gov/country/honduras.html |archive-date=16 March 2006}}</ref>

===21st century===
[[File:Defense.gov News Photo 0308020-F-2828D-168.jpg|thumb|right|President [[Ricardo Maduro]] with U.S. Secretary of Defense [[Donald Rumsfeld]] in August 2003]]
In 2007, President of Honduras [[Manuel Zelaya]] and President of the United States [[George W. Bush]] began talks on US assistance to Honduras to tackle the latter's growing drug cartels in Mosquito, Eastern Honduras using US special forces. This marked the beginning of a new foothold for the US military's continued presence in Central America.<ref>{{cite news |title=Honduras Becomes U.S. Military Foothold for Central America |url=https://nacla.org/news/honduras-becomes-us-military-foothold-central-america |access-date=13 November 2018 |publisher=NACLA |date=4 September 2007 |archive-date=13 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113165906/https://nacla.org/news/honduras-becomes-us-military-foothold-central-america |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:2009 Honduras political crisis 11.jpg|thumb|[[2009 Honduran coup d'état]]]]
Under Zelaya, Honduras joined [[ALBA]] in 2008, but withdrew in 2010 after the [[2009 Honduran coup d'état]].<ref name="americasquarterly.org">{{cite web |url=https://www.americasquarterly.org/blog/honduran-congress-approves-withdrawal-from-alba/ |title=Honduran Congress Approves Withdrawal From ALBA |work=Americas Quarterly |date=14 January 2010 |access-date=14 July 2021 |archive-date=23 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623232313/https://www.americasquarterly.org/blog/honduran-congress-approves-withdrawal-from-alba/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2009, a [[2009 Honduran political crisis|constitutional crisis]] resulted when power was transferred in a coup from the president to the head of Congress. The [[Organization of American States|OAS]] suspended Honduras because it did not regard its government as legitimate.<ref name=OAS>{{cite press release
|url=http://www.oas.org/en/media_center/press_release.asp?sCodigo=E-219%2F09
|title=OAS Suspends Membership Of Honduras
|publisher=[[Organization of American States]]
|date=5 July 2009
|access-date=9 February 2016
|archive-date=28 January 2016
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128122113/http://www.oas.org/en/media_center/press_release.asp?sCodigo=E-219%2F09
|url-status=live
}}</ref><ref name="New Honduran leader sworn in" >{{cite news
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8123513.stm
|title=New Honduran leader sets curfew
|work=BBC News
|date=29 June 2009
|access-date=27 June 2010
|archive-date=22 July 2010
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722021828/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8123513.stm
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

Countries around the world, the OAS, and the [[United Nations]]<ref name=UN>{{cite press release
|url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=31314&Cr=honduras&Cr1
|title=General Assembly condemns coup in Honduras
|publisher=[[United Nations]]
|date=30 June 2009
|access-date=9 February 2016
|archive-date=2 July 2017
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702170456/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=31314&Cr=honduras&Cr1
|url-status=live
}}</ref> formally and unanimously condemned the action as a [[coup d'état]], refusing to recognize the ''de facto'' government, even though the lawyers consulted by the [[Library of Congress]] submitted to the [[United States Congress]] an opinion that declared the coup legal.<ref name=UN/><ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://thegovmonitor.com/americas_features/de-facto-government-in-honduras-pays-washington-lobbyists-300000-to-sway-u-s-opinion-8579.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205202126/http://thegovmonitor.com/americas_features/de-facto-government-in-honduras-pays-washington-lobbyists-300000-to-sway-u-s-opinion-8579.html
|archive-date=5 February 2010
|title=De Facto government in Honduras pays Washington lobbyists $300,000 to sway U.S. opinion
|publisher=Gov Monitor
|first=Sabrina
|last=Shankman
|date=6 October 2009
|access-date=30 July 2011
}}
</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://en.mercopress.com/2009/09/25/us-congress-report-argues-zelayas-ousting-was-legal-and-constitutional
|title=US Congress report argues Zelaya's ousting was 'legal and constitutional'
|work=MercoPress
|date=25 September 2009
|access-date=9 February 2016
|archive-date=5 April 2016
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405162045/http://en.mercopress.com/2009/09/25/us-congress-report-argues-zelayas-ousting-was-legal-and-constitutional
|url-status=live
}}</ref> The [[Honduran Supreme Court]] also ruled that the proceedings had been legal. The government that followed the ''de facto government'' established a truth and reconciliation commission, ''Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación'', which after more than a year of research and debate concluded that the ousting had been a [[coup d'état]], and illegal in the commission's opinion.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://seaifcentralamerica.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/report-of-the-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-of-honduras-7-18-11.pdf
|title=Report by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Honduras
|publisher=[[Seattle International Foundation]]
|date=18 July 2011
|access-date=9 February 2016
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312041105/https://seaifcentralamerica.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/report-of-the-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-of-honduras-7-18-11.pdf
|archive-date=12 March 2016
|url-status=dead
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14072148
|title=Honduras Truth Commission rules Zelaya removal was coup
|work=BBC News
|date=7 July 2011
|access-date=20 June 2018
|archive-date=8 July 2011
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708014934/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14072148
|url-status=live
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
|first=Julia
|last=Zebley
|date=18 July 2011
|url=http://jurist.org/paperchase/2011/07/honduras-truth-commission-says-coup-was-unconstitutional.php
|title=Honduras truth commission says coup against Zelaya was unconstitutional
|publisher=[[JURIST]]
|access-date=17 September 2013
|archive-date=2 February 2013
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130202122812/http://jurist.org/paperchase/2011/07/honduras-truth-commission-says-coup-was-unconstitutional.php
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

On 28 November 2021, the former first lady [[Xiomara Castro]], leftist presidential candidate of opposition [[Liberty and Refoundation]] Party, won 53% of the votes in the [[2021 Honduran general election|presidential election]] to become the first female president of Honduras, bringing an end to the 12-year reign of the right-wing National Party.<ref>{{cite news |title=Honduras elected its first female president, Xiomara Castro |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/honduras-elected-first-female-president-xiomara-castro-rcna7218 |work=NBC News |date=1 December 2021 |language=en |access-date=5 December 2021 |archive-date=18 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618160850/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/honduras-elected-first-female-president-xiomara-castro-rcna7218 |url-status=live }}</ref> She was sworn in on 27 January 2022. Her husband, Manuel Zelaya, held the same office from 2006 until 2009.<ref>{{cite news |title=Xiomara Castro: Honduras' first female president sworn in |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-60155634 |work=BBC News |date=27 January 2022 |access-date=4 February 2022 |archive-date=4 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204174344/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-60155634 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In April 2022, former president of Honduras, [[Juan Orlando Hernández]], who served two terms between 2014 and January 2022, was extradited to the United States to face charges of drug trafficking and money laundering. Hernandez denied the accusations.<ref>{{cite news |title=Juan Orlando Hernández: Honduran ex-leader extradited to US |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-61174692 |work=BBC News |date=21 April 2022 |access-date=23 May 2022 |archive-date=23 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523114459/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-61174692 |url-status=live }}</ref>