The
"Football" War (
La guerra del fútbol, in Spanish), also known as the
Soccer War or
100-hours War, was a four-day
warWar is a reciprocated, armed conflict, between two or more non-congruous entities, aimed at reorganising a subjectively designed, geo-politically desired result...
fought by
El SalvadorEl Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. It lies on the Gulf of Fonseca, as does Nicaragua further south. It has a population of approximately 5.7 million people as of 2009 on...
and
HondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras...
in 1969. It was caused by political conflicts between Hondurans and Salvadorans, namely issues concerning immigration from
El SalvadorEl Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. It lies on the Gulf of Fonseca, as does Nicaragua further south. It has a population of approximately 5.7 million people as of 2009 on...
to
HondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras...
. These existing tensions between the two countries coincided with the inflamed rioting during the second
North AmericanCONCACAF is the continent-wide governing body for football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean...
qualifying round for the
1970 FIFA World CupThe 1970 FIFA World Cup, the ninth staging of the World Cup, was held in Mexico, from 31 May to 21 June. Mexico was chosen as hosts by FIFA in October 1964. The 1970 tournament was the first World Cup hosted in North America, and the first held outside South America and Europe. In a match-up of...
. On 14 July 1969, the Salvadoran army launched an attack against Honduras. The
Organization of American StatesThe Organization of American States is an international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States. Its members are the thirty-five independent states of the Americas with two countries suspended...
negotiated a cease-fire which took effect on 20 July, with the Salvadoran troops withdrawn in early August.
Eleven years later the two nations signed a
peace treatyA peace treaty is an agreement between two hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends an armed conflict. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to cease hostilities, or a surrender, in which an army agrees to give up arms.-Elements of treaties:There are...
on 30 October 1980 to put the border dispute before the
International Court of JusticeThe International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
. In 1992, the Court awarded most of the disputed territory to
HondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras...
, and in 1998,
HondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras...
and
El SalvadorEl Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. It lies on the Gulf of Fonseca, as does Nicaragua further south. It has a population of approximately 5.7 million people as of 2009 on...
signed a border demarcation treaty to implement the terms of the ICJ decree. The total land area given to Honduras from El Salvador after the court's ruling was around 374.5 km2. As of the beginning of 2006 demarcation had not yet been completed, but
HondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras...
and
El SalvadorEl Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. It lies on the Gulf of Fonseca, as does Nicaragua further south. It has a population of approximately 5.7 million people as of 2009 on...
maintain normal diplomatic and trade relations.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1922.htm
Context
Although the nickname "Football War" implies that the conflict was due to a football game, the causes of the war go deeper. The roots of the war were issues over land reform in
HondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras...
and immigration and demographic problems in
El SalvadorEl Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. It lies on the Gulf of Fonseca, as does Nicaragua further south. It has a population of approximately 5.7 million people as of 2009 on...
. Honduras is more than five times the size of neighbouring El Salvador, even though in 1969, El Salvador had a population that was more than double that of Honduras. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Salvadorans had begun migrating to Honduras in large numbers. By 1969, more than 300,000 Salvadorans were living in Honduras. These Salvadorans made up twenty percent of the peasant population of Honduras. Meanwhile, by the 1970s Hondurans began to cry out for land reform as well.
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 CompanyThe United Fruit Company was a United States corporation that traded in tropical fruit grown in Third World plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was formed in 1899 from the merger of Minor C. Keith's banana-trading concerns with Andrew W. Preston's Boston Fruit Company...
owned ten percent of the land, making it hard for the average landowners to compete. In 1966, the United Fruit Company banded together with many other large companies to create la Federación Nacional de Agricultores y Ganaderos de Honduras (FENAGH; the National Federation of Farmers and Livestock-Farmers of Honduras). FENAGH was anti-
campesinoCampesino is a Spanish language term referring to a farmer or farmworker. A possible English language equivalent term is peasant, with connotations of subsistence or simple farming that aims to survive rather than generate a profit...
as well as anti-Salvadoran. This group put pressure on the Honduran president, General
Lopez ArellanoOswaldo Enrique López Arellano was twice President of Honduras from 1963-1971 and 1972-1975. He gained power by military force....
, to protect the property rights of wealthy landowners.
In 1962, Honduras successfully enacted a new land reform law. Fully enforced by 1967, this law gave central government and municipal land much occupied illegally by Salvadoran immigrants and redistributed this land to native-born Honduran peoples as specified by the Land Reform Law. The land was taken from both immigrant farmers and squatters regardless of their right to ownership and the status of their immigration. Thousands of Salvadorans were displaced by this law and were forced to emigrate once again. Salvadoran newspapers then heightened the already stressed relationship between the two countries by showing the many supposed atrocities being committed against Salvadorans in Honduras.
Thousands of Salvadoran labourers were expelled from Honduras, including both temporary harvest workers and longer-term settlers. This general rise in tensions ultimately led to a military conflict.
Buildup
This war was fought at a time when tensions between the two countries were building due to competition in the infamous qualifying games for the 1970
FIFA World CupThe FIFA World Cup, occasionally called the Football World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
tournament. The first game took place in the Honduran capital of
TegucigalpaTegucigalpa is the capital city of Honduras and is also the country's largest city. Tegucigalpa is also the capital of Honduras's Francisco Morazán department.-Etymology of the name:...
, with Honduras winning the game. The second game took place in the Salvadoran capital of
San SalvadorSan Salvador is the capital and largest city of the nation of El Salvador. The second most populous city in Central America, after Guatemala City, the metro covers an area of 568 km² and is home to nearly 1.6 million people...
, with a home team win. The game was in a deadlock with each country gaining a revised sense of pride and legitimacy. The Honduran press exploited existing tensions, reporting beatings, the burning of cars, and riots by Honduran citizens in El Salvador. In the meantime, Salvadoran press exploited alleged attacks on Salvadoran immigrants by Honduran citizens and security forces.
El Salvador dissolved all ties with Honduras on 26 June 1969, stating 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”. This led to regular border clashes occurring between the two nations.
First Shots
Late in the afternoon of 14 July 1969, concerted military action began in what came to be known as the Football War. The Salvadoran Air Force (El Salvador lacked sufficient military air equipment, resorting to the use of passenger airplanes with attached vessels strapped to their sides as bombers) attacked targets inside Honduras, including the airport facility at Toncontin and other strategic places, leaving the Honduran air force almost unable to react after dropping more than 22 100-pound bombs. The Salvadoran army launched major offensives along the two main roads connecting the two nations. At first, the Salvadorans made fairly rapid progress. By the evening of 15 July, the Salvadoran army, which was considerably larger and better equipped than its Honduran opponent, had advanced into Honduras and taken the departmental capital of Nueva Ocotepeque and eight other cities. Thereafter, the attack bogged down, the Salvadorans' pace slowing. The Honduran air force's reaction included bombing the Ilopango military airport facility with four planes, but the Salvadoran military was ready and repelled the attack. Three Honduran bombs were dropped, with only one exploding and missing the targeted airport facility. The same planes also bombed an oil facility. These were the only Honduran incursion in the Salvadoran soil. The Honduran bombing included the use of napalm, while the Salvadorans did not use napalm in their bombings in Honduras.
When things became desperate for the Salvadoran Air Force a number of well-known American pilots with current experience on the P-51 Mustang were retained including Chuck Lyford, Bob Love, Lynn Garrison and Ben Hall. Their presence was a stabilizing factor. Their missions against the Honduran Vought F4U Corsairs marked the world's last combat between propeller driven aircraft.
During the war, the Third Military Zone of the Honduran Army was discovered to have only half of its allotted soldiers. The money for the missing troops had been collected by an allegedly corrupt Honduran Army officer.
NicarauguanNicaragua officially the Republic of Nicaragua , is a representative democratic republic. It is the largest country in Central America with an area of 130,373 km
2. The country is bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west of...
dictator
Anastasio Somoza DebayleAnastasio Somoza Debayle was officially the 73rd and 76th President of Nicaragua from 1 May 1967 to 1 May 1972 and from 1 December 1974 to 17 July 1979. As head of the National Guard, he was ruler of the country from 1967 to 1979...
helped Honduras by providing weapons and
ammunitionAmmunition, often informally referred to as ammo, is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
.
Cease Fire
The day after the fighting had begun, the OAS met in an urgent session and called for an immediate cease-fire and a withdrawal of El Salvador's forces from Honduras. El Salvador resisted the pressures from the OAS for several days, demanding that Honduras first agree to pay reparations for the attacks on Salvadoran citizens and guarantee the safety of those Salvadorans remaining in Honduras. A cease-fire was arranged on the night of 18 July; it took full effect only on 20 July. El Salvador continued until 29 July to resist pressures to withdraw its troops. Then a combination of pressures led El Salvador to agree to a withdrawal in the first days of August. Those persuasive pressures included the possibility of
OASThe Organization of American States is an international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States. Its members are the thirty-five independent states of the Americas with two countries suspended...
economic sanctions against El Salvador and the dispatch of OAS observers to Honduras to oversee the security of Salvadorans remaining in that country. The actual war had lasted just over four days, but it would take more than a decade to arrive at a final peace settlement.
Withdrawal
El Salvador, which had refused to withdraw its troops from the occupied territory in Honduras, withdrew its troops on 2 August 1969. On this date, Honduras also guaranteed Salvadoran President Fidel Sanchez Hernandez that the Honduran government would provide adequate safety for the Salvadorans still living in Honduras. He had also asked that reparations be paid to the Salvadoran citizens as well but was never accepted by Hondurans. There were also the heavy pressures from the OAS and their debilitating repercussions that would take place if El Salvador continued to resist to withdraw their troops from Honduras.
The war is often cited as the last occasion on which piston-engined fighters fought each other on both sides deploying former
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and
Korean WarThe Korean War is a war that started between North Korea and South Korea on 25 June 1950 and paused with an armistice signed 27 July, 1953...
American types.
Cavalier F-51D MustangsThe Cavalier Mustang was a civilian-modified version of the North American P-51 Mustang aircraft.-Development:In 1957, newspaper publisher David Lindsay formed Trans Florida Aviation Inc. His intention was to transform surplus military P-51s into executive business aircraft...
,
F4U-1, -4 and -5 CorsairsThe Chance Vought F4U Corsair was a carrier-capable fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Goodyear-built Corsairs were designated FG and Brewster-built aircraft F3A. The Corsair served in smaller air forces until the 1960s, following the longest production...
,
T-28A TrojansThe North American Aviation T-28 Trojan was a piston-engined military trainer aircraft used by the United States Air Force and United States Navy beginning in the 1950s...
,
AT-6C TexansThe North American T-6 Texan was a single-engine advanced trainer aircraft used to train fighter pilots of the United States Army Air Forces, United States Navy, Royal Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II. Designed by North American Aviation, The T-6 is...
and even
C-47 SkytrainThe Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
s converted into bombers saw action.
Consequences
In the end, both sides of the Football War suffered extensive casualties. Some 300,000 Salvadorans were displaced due to the battle. Many Salvadorans had been forcibly exiled or had fled from the war-torn Honduras, only to enter a Salvadoran country in which the government was not welcoming. Most of these fleeing people were forced to provide for themselves with very little assistance at all. Over the next few years, Salvadorans returned to their native land where they were surrounded by overpopulation and extreme poverty.
In Honduras, about 100 combat troops and over 2,000 civilians had been killed over a four day period due to the majority of the war being fought on Honduran soil. Thousands more had been ultimately made homeless as well. Trade between Honduras and El Salvador had also been greatly disrupted and the international border had been officially closed. This damaged the economies of these nations tremendously and threatened the Central American Common Market (CACM).
- Essentially, both sides 'lost' the war; neither gained a decisive military victory and the death toll of approximately 4,000 was burdened by Honduras.
- The war led to a 22-year suspension of the 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
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt that led to the overthrow of U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista of Cuba on January 1, 1959 by the 26th of July Movement led by Fidel Castro....
.
- The political power of the military in both countries was reinforced. In the Salvadoran legislative elections that followed, candidates of the governing National Conciliation Party (Partido de Conciliación Nacional, PCN), were largely drawn from the ranks of the military. Having apologised for their role in the conflict, they proved very successful in elections both at the national and local levels. However, these elections were considered fraudulent and part of the military dictatorship that in effect ruled El Salvador.
- The social situation worsened in El Salvador as the government proved unable to satisfy the economic needs of citizens deported from Honduras. The resulting social unrest was one of the causes of the civil war in El Salvador
The Salvadoran Civil War was a conflict in El Salvador.It was between the military-led government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front , a coalition or umbrella organization of five left-wing militias...
that followed.
1970 World Cup qualifying results
- 8 June 1969, Tegucigalpa
Tegucigalpa is the capital city of Honduras and is also the country's largest city. Tegucigalpa is also the capital of Honduras's Francisco Morazán department.-Etymology of the name:...
: HondurasThe Honduras national football team, nicknamed Los Catrachos, is the national team of Honduras and is controlled by the Federación Nacional Autónoma de Fútbol de Honduras...
1 - 0 El SalvadorThe El Salvador national football team is the national team of El Salvador and is controlled by the Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol. The team have qualified twice to the FIFA World Cup; firstly in 1970 and then in 1982...
(0-0 at halftime)
- 15 June 1969, San Salvador
San Salvador is the capital and largest city of the nation of El Salvador. The second most populous city in Central America, after Guatemala City, the metro covers an area of 568 km² and is home to nearly 1.6 million people...
: El Salvador 3 - 0 Honduras (HT: 3-0)
- A playoff match on 27 June 1969, Mexico: El Salvador 3 - 2 Honduras after extra time (HT: 1-2, FT: 2-2). El Salvador then ended up going to the 1970 FIFA World Cup
The 1970 FIFA World Cup, the ninth staging of the World Cup, was held in Mexico, from 31 May to 21 June. Mexico was chosen as hosts by FIFA in October 1964. The 1970 tournament was the first World Cup hosted in North America, and the first held outside South America and Europe. In a match-up of...
, where they failed to advance from the Group Stage.
External links