Football War

The Football War (Template:Langx), also known as the Soccer War or the 100 Hour War, was a brief military conflict fought between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. Existing tensions between the two countries coincided with rioting during a 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifier.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> The war began on 14 July 1969 when the Salvadoran military launched an attack against Honduras. The Organization 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 Salvadoran troops were withdrawn in early August.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 the Salvadoran Civil War a decade later.

Background

Although the nickname "Football War" implies that the conflict was due to a football match, the causes of the war went much deeper. The roots were issues over land reform in Honduras and immigration and demographic problems in El 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 percent 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.<ref name="banana">Template:Cite book</ref>

In Honduras, as in much of Central America, a large majority of the land was owned by large landowners or big corporations. The United Fruit Company owned 10% of the land, making it hard for the average landowner to compete. In 1966, United Fruit banded together with many other large companiesTemplate:Specify to create the National Federation of Honduran Farmers and Ranchers (Template:Langx, FENAGH). This group put pressure on the President of Honduras, General Oswaldo López Arellano, to protect the property of wealthy landowners from campesinos, many of which were Salvadoran.<ref name="Anderson-1981">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:RP

In 1962, Honduras successfully enacted a new land reform law.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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 and squatters 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Buildup

Template:Further In June 1969, both countries met in a two-leg 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifier. The first game was held in Tegucigalpa, Honduras' capital, on 8 June 1969.<ref name=":0" /> The Salvadoran team was harassed by Honduran fans at their hotel the night before the match.<ref name=":7">Template:Cite web</ref> Honduras won Template:Nowrap, causing Salvadoran fans to reportedly set fire to the stadium.<ref name="Football War matches">Template:Cite web</ref>

The second game was held in San Salvador, El Salvador's capital, on 15 June 1969. Salvadoran fans, seeking vengeance, rioted outside the Honduran team's hotel, leading to several deaths.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> At the match's start, a dirty rag was flown instead of the Honduran flag.<ref name="Football War matches" /> It was won Template:Nowrap by El Salvador.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Anti-Salvadoran riots occurred across Honduras following the loss.<ref name=":8">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref>

On 26 June 1969, the night before the play-off match in Mexico City, which El Salvador would win Template:Nowrap after extra time,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name=":0" /> It further claimed that "the Government of Honduras has not taken any effective measures to punish these crimes which constitute genocide, nor has it given assurances of indemnification or reparations for the damages caused to Salvadorans".<ref name="Anderson-1981" />Template:RP

Border skirmishes

On 3 July, Salvadoran anti-aircraft fired on a civilian Douglas DC-3 in Honduran airspace, causing the Honduran Air Force (Template:Langx, FAH) to scramble two North American T-28 Trojans<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":11">Template:Cite web</ref> and forces stationed near the border town of El Poy to briefly clash.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The same day, a Piper PA-28 Cherokee, used by the Salvadoran Air Force (Template:Langx, FAS) as a reconnaissance plane, was intercepted, but managed to escape capture.<ref name=":11" />

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 of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Guatemala mediate the situation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Honduras and El Salvador were also both urged to "avoid any action that might further endanger the situation".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 13 July, six Honduran civilians were injured during another skirmish at El Poy, in which both sides exchanged mortar fire.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

War

File:Mensaje FSH.JPG

A declaration made by Salvadoran President Fidel Sánchez Hernández regarding the war.

File:Chance-Vought F4U-5N Corsair (VH-III) taxiing during the 2015 Warbirds Downunder Airshow at Temora.jpg

A Vought F4U Corsair of the Honduran Air Force, a type of aircraft used during the war.

The war began on 14 July 1969 at around 6 PM,<ref name=":2" /> when the FAS attacked Honduran airfields using P-51 Mustangs,<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":4" /> as well as C-47 Skytrains and civilian aircraft hastily converted into bombers.<ref name=":11" /><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> They mainly targeted Toncontín International Airport, where the FAH kept half of its aircraft.<ref name=":11" /> The Salvadoran Army then launched a two-front invasion of Honduras; one contingent headed to secure the prosperous Sula Valley, while the other marched along the Pan-American Highway toward Tegucigalpa.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp<ref name=":5">Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp Troops were supported by M3A1 Stuarts, as well as bulldozers and trucks using improvised vehicle armor.<ref name=":6">Template:Cite web</ref> Initial progress was swift, with La Prensa Gráfica claiming they advanced Template:Convert in a single day.<ref name="baja">Template:Cite web</ref>

On 15 July, the FAH commenced bombings using their own fleet of World War II-era aircraft, mainly consisting of F4U Corsairs.<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Sortie targets included the Ilopango International Airport and oil facilities in Acajutla and Template:Illm.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":8" /> 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.<ref name=":11" />

On 16 July, in the only major battle of the war, Salvadoran troops led by Colonel Mario (“El Diablo”) Velázquez Jandres, reached and surrounded Nueva Ocotepeque, pressing defenses in what TIME described as a "narrow defile". Following artillery barrages, Honduran forces retreated alongside civilians, leading to the town's capture.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=TIME>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Both fronts stalled later that day due to an ammunition shortage and increasing Honduran resistance.<ref name=troop#/>

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. Captain Guillermo Reynaldo Cortez, a Salvadoran, was killed;<ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref> he was the highest-ranking casualty of the war.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Football War was the last conflict in which piston-engined fighters fought each other.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":10">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name=":9">Template:Cite web</ref>

Ceasefire

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.<ref name=":2" /> While Honduran officials were reportedly willing, El Salvador resisted OAS pressure for several days, with one of the biggest sticking points, according to the CIA, being the time window given for troops to be withdrawn.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Delayed withdrawal

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Honduras only fulfilled the first demand, but El Salvador relented after the OAS threatened sanctions, resulting in troops withdrawing on 2 August 1969.<ref name=":3" />Template:Rp

Consequences

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;<ref name="casualty">Template:Cite book</ref> Nueva Ocotepeque's parish priest reportedly saw 400 dead,<ref name="TIME" /> while internal CIA documents report up to 1,500.<ref name="CIA" /> Most historians agree that civilians accounted for the majority of the losses.<ref name=":12">Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref name="Anderson-1981" />Template:RP The resulting social unrest was one of the causes of the Salvadoran Civil War, which followed approximately a decade later in which 70,000 to 80,000 died and a further 8,000 more disappeared.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Trade between Honduras and El Salvador, which had been heavily disrupted pre-war,<ref name=":1" /> was outright stopped following it.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5" />Template:Rp Honduras would go on to leave and thereby further weaken the already ailing Central 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 the Cuban Revolution.<ref name=":5" />Template:Rp<ref name=":12" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Aftermath

Although it had initiated the war, El Salvador played in the World Cup; it was eliminated after losing its first three matches against the USSR, Mexico, and Belgium.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Eleven years after the conflict the two nations signed a peace treaty in Lima, Peru on 30 October 1980<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and agreed to resolve the border dispute over the Gulf of Fonseca and five sections of land boundary through the International 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 Template:Convert. In the Gulf of Fonseca the court found that Honduras held sovereignty over the island of El Tigre, and El Salvador over the islands of Meanguera and Meanguerita.<ref name="Kawas">Template:Cite web</ref>

The dispute continued despite the ICJ ruling. At a meeting in March 2012 President Porfirio Lobo of Honduras, President Otto Pérez of Guatemala, and President Daniel 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.<ref name="Kawas" />

See also

• El Salvador–Honduras relations
• Guillermo Reynaldo Cortez
• List of wars between democracies

Further reading

• Armstrong, Robert and Janet Shenk. (1982). El Salvador: The Face of a Revolution. Boston: South End Press. Template:ISBN
• Diamond, Jared. (2012). The World Until Yesterday. New York: Viking. Template:ISBN
• Durham, William H. (1979). Scarcity and Survival in Central America: Ecological Origins of the Football War. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
• Skidmore, T., and Smith, P. (2001). Modern Latin America (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
• Walzer, Michael. (1977). Just and Unjust Wars. New York: Basic Books.

External links

• Salvador-Honduras War, 1969
• Soccer War 1969
• Template:Usurped
• Land, Island and Maritime Frontier Dispute (El Salvador/Honduras: Nicaragua intervening), International Court of Justice case registry
• Application for Revision of the Judgment of 11 September 1992 in the Case concerning the Land, Island and Maritime Frontier Dispute (El Salvador/Honduras: Nicaragua intervening) (El Salvador v. Honduras), International Court of Justice case registry