Editing Armed Forces of El Salvador (section)

===Football War===
{{Main|Football War}}
In 1969, tensions between El Salvador and [[Honduras]] increased. There was dispute concerning the border between the two countries. Approximately 300,000 Salvadorans had moved to Honduras due to population and land pressures in their homeland but Honduras had not renewed the El Salvador – Honduras Bilateral Treaty on Immigration. Honduras and El Salvador were competitors in the Central American Common Market. Honduras' economy was struggling and the Honduran Government started to deport the Salvadorans who they saw as illegal immigrants. Many Salvadorans fled after their Vice Consul was killed.<ref>Di Piazza F. [https://books.google.com/books?id=un6kGui8z4QC&dq=cacm+el+salvador&pg=PA28 ''El Salvador in Pictures''] Twenty-First Century Books, 2007 p29. {{ISBN|0822571455}}</ref><ref>Moodie E. [https://books.google.com/books?id=x4uOS0AcIA4C&dq=%22football+war%22+el+salvador&pg=PA222 ''El Salvador in the aftermath of peace''] University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011 p30. {{ISBN|0812205979}}</ref><ref name="Fouskas">Fouskas V. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZomsAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22football+war%22+el+salvador&pg=PA37 ''Politics of Conflict''] Routledge, 2010 p37. {{
ISBN|1136833579}}</ref> In June 1969, El Salvador played three games against Honduras in the [[1970 FIFA World Cup qualification|qualifying rounds of the World Cup]].<ref name="Perez"/>{{rp|page=64}} Then, on 26 June 1969, El Salvador won a play-off game 3 goals to 2 against [[Haiti]], taking a place in the cup finals.<ref>Dunmore T. [https://books.google.com/books?id=4uJdBgAAQBAJ&dq=qualifying+finals+world+cup+1970&pg=PA204 ''Encyclopedia of the FIFA World Cup''] Scarecrow Press, 2015 p204. {{ISBN|0810887436}}</ref>

On 14 July 1969, armed hostilities began between El Salvador and Honduras. Due to the war's proximity to the World Cup qualifying games, it was called the "[[Football War]]" or the "[[Soccer]] War".

At this time, the Salvadoran forces included approximately 8,000 infantrymen with rifles, machine guns, mortars and bazookas, 105&nbsp;mm cannons and a few armoured personnel carriers. Very few arms were manufactured in El Salvador. Most arms were supplied by the US. Honduras' infantry was smaller and less well equipped.<ref name="Brzoska">Brzoska M. and Pearson F. [https://books.google.com/books?id=to7hS3Wlro4C&dq=%22football+war%22+honduras&pg=PA61 ''Arms and Warfare: Escalation, De-escalation, and Negotiation''] Univ of South Carolina Press, 1994 p64. {{ISBN|0872499820}}</ref>

The Salvadoran Air Force, flying [[P-51 Mustang]]s, attacked Honduran targets and vice versa, but each air force had only a few working aeroplanes and was hampered by a lack of spare parts.<ref name="Perez"/>{{rp|page=64}}  El Salvador's infantry forces invaded Honduras and took [[Ocotepeque]].<ref name="Fouskas"/><ref name="Brzoska"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/last-piston-engine-dogfights-180956250/|title=The Last Piston-Engine Dogfights|last=Lerner|first=P.|work=Air and Space Magazine|access-date=2017-10-05|language=en}}</ref>

As Salvadoran troops approached [[Tegucigalpa]], their supply lines failed, they became exhausted and were slowed by heavy rainfall, and their morale fell. On July 18, 1969, the Organization of American States (OAS) organised a [[ceasefire]]. Then as economic sanctions and an arms [[embargo]] took effect, both sides. The war lasted for four days and therefore is also called the "one hundred hour war".<ref name="Brzoska"/>