Honduran general election, 1954

A general election was held in Honduras on 10 October 1954. The elections took place, with relative honesty.[1]

The split among the Nationalists enabled the Liberals to win a plurality (48 percent) in the national elections, but without an absolute majority the election was thrown into the National Congress, where the distribution of seats favored the Nationalists and the MNR.[2]

The Nationalists and Reformists, unable to concur on a candidate of their own, had agreed to block Ramón Villeda Morales.[3]

In November the election was thrown into Congress. “Unfortunately, two-thirds of the deputies was necessary to constitute a quorum and when the National and Reformist deputies boycotted the proceedings (in a ploy designed by US Ambassador Whitting Willauer), a stalemate ensued”.[4]

In the midst of this crisis, President Juan Manuel Gálvez, stricken by illness, turned over the power of the presidency to his vice-president.[1]

On 16 November 1954 Vice President Julio Lozano Díaz assumed the presidency during a constitutional crisis occasioned by an anarchic election. His ostensible purpose was to save the country from descending into chaos. Once in power, however, he decided to stay there.[5]

Owing to the failure of Congress to agree on a winner, the country seemed about to plunge into a civil war, which no one wanted. Thus there was almost relief when, on 6 December, Lozano moved decisively, declaring himself dictator. It was the same old story of someone assuming strong-man rule in order to avoid the imaginary ‘chaos’ that would result from democratic rule. Soon Lozano even uncovered the obligatory ‘communist plot,’ allegedly backed by Guatemalan ex-president Juan José Arévalo, which allowed him to tighten the screws even more. Villeda and other Liberal leaders were exiled from the country.[1]

President Lozano, asserting his independence, dissolved congress and appointed a State Advisory Council (59-member) with representatives from the Liberal, National, and MNR Parties. It was to write a new constitution, labor code, social security law, and act merely in an advisory capacity to the president.[6]

Presidential election results[7]

Candidate Party/Alliance Votes %
Ramón Villeda Morales Liberal Party of Honduras (PLH) 121,213 48.10%
Tiburcio Carías Andino National Party of Honduras (PNH) 77,726 30.85%
Abraham Williams Calderón National Reformist Movement (MNR) 53,041 21.05%
Total valid votes 251,980 100%
Spoilt and invalid votes 644 00.25%
Total votes/Turnout 252,624 61.41%
Registered voters 411,354
Population 1,608,000

Legislative election [3]

Parties and alliances Votes/districts % Seats
Liberal Party of Honduras (PLH) 121,213 48.10% 24
National Party of Honduras (PNH) 77,726 30.85% 23
National Reformist Movement (MNR) 53,041 21.05% 12
Total valid votes 251,980 100% 59
Spoilt and invalid votes 644 00.25%
Total votes/Turnout 252,624 61.41%
Registered voters 411,354
Population 1,608,000

References

  1. 1 2 3 Anderson, Thomas P. The war of the dispossessed: Honduras and El Salvador, 1969. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 1981. Pp. 59.
  2. ↑ Morris, James A. 1984. Honduras: caudillo politics and military rulers. Boulder: Westview Press. Pp. 11.
  3. 1 2 Parker, Franklin D. The Central American republics. Westport: Greenwood Press. Reprint of 1964 original. 1981. Pp. 190.
  4. ↑ Bowman, Kirk. “The public battles over militarisation and democracy in Honduras, 1954-1963.” Journal of Latin American studies 33, 3:539-560 (August 2001). Pp. 551.
  5. ↑ Schulz, Donald E. and Deborah Sundloff Schulz. The United States, Honduras, and the crisis in Central America. Boulder: Westview Press. 1994. Pp. 25.
  6. ↑ Dodd, Thomas J. 2005. Tiburcio Carías: portrait of a Honduran political leader. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. Pp. 229.
  7. ↑ Elections in the Americas : a data handbook / ed. by Dieter Nohlen, Vol. 1. [Oxford] [u.a.] : Oxford Univ. Press, 2005. Pp.415.

Bibliography

Anderson, Thomas P. The war of the dispossessed: Honduras and El Salvador, 1969. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 1981.

Bardales B., Rafael. Historia del Partido Nacional de Honduras. Tegucigalpa: Servicopiax Editores. 1980.

Becerra, Longino. Evolución histórica de Honduras. Tegucigalpa: Baktun Editorial. 1983.

Bowdler, George A. And Patrick Cotter. Voter participation in Central America, 1954-1981. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, Inc. 1982.

Dodd, Thomas J. Tiburcio Carías: portrait of a Honduran political leader. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. 2005.

Elections in the Americas A Data Handbook Volume 1. North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Edited by Dieter Nohlen. 2005.

Euraque, Darío A. Reinterpreting the banana republic: region and state in Honduras, 1870-1972. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. 1996.

Fernández, Arturo. Partidos políticos y elecciones en Honduras 1980. Tegucigalpa: Editorial Guaymuras. Second edition. 1983.

Haggerty, Richard and Richard Millet. 1995. “Historical setting.” Merrill, Tim L., ed. 1995. Honduras: a country study. Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress.

MacCameron, Robert. Bananas, labor and politics in Honduras: 1954-1963. Syracuse: Syracuse University. Martz, John D. Central America, the crisis and the challenge. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 1959. 1983.

Martz, John D. Central America, the crisis and the challenge. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 1959.

Morris, James A. Honduras: caudillo politics and military rulers. Boulder: Westview Press. 1984.

Parker, Franklin D. The Central American republics. Westport: Greenwood Press. Reprint of 1964 original. 1981.

Political handbook of the world 1954. New York, 1955.

Posas, Mario and Rafael del Cid. La construcción del sector público y del estado nacional en Honduras (1876-1979). San José: EDUCA. Second edition. 1983.

Villars, Rina. “La conquista del voto: mociones legislativas (1949-1953) y percepción social sobre los derechos de la mujer.” Estudios de la mujer: una antología. 2004. Tegucigalpa: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras.

Weaver, Frederick Stirton. Inside the volcano: the history and political economy of Central America. Boulder: Westview Press. 1994.

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