Trouble in Central America: Honduras Unravels

Issue Date April 2010
Volume 21
Issue 2
Page Numbers 93-107
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In June 2009, the Honduran armed forces ousted President Manuel Zelaya in the first successful military coup in Latin America since 1991. Zelaya’s overthrow was precipitated by a constitutional crisis that pitted the leftist president against the Supreme Court, National Congress, Supreme Electoral Tribunal, and both major political parties. An interim civilian government backed by the military resisted international and domestic pressures to reinstate Zelaya for months and held scheduled elections to select his successor. The new president assumed office in 2010, but the outlook for democracy remains uncertain. Competing elites no longer trust democratic rules, and the mass population continues to be disillusioned with elected leaders’ failure to address poverty, corruption, and crime.

About the Author

J. Mark Ruhl is the Glenn and Mary Todd Professor of Political Science at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He has written extensively on democratization and civil-military relations in Latin America.

View all work by J. Mark Ruhl