Armed Forces of Honduras

Honduras Armed Forces Fuerzas Armadas de Honduras
guide
Commander in Chief :	the respective president
Military Commander:	Romeo Vásquez Velásquez
Military leadership:	General Staff
Headquarters:	Tegucigalpa
Military strength
Active soldiers:	20,000 (as of 2009)
Reservists:	90,000
Conscription:	No
Eligibility for military service:	Before 2005 18 years of age / now from 16–49
household
Military budget:	US $ 100.6 million
history
Factual foundation:	1918

The armed forces of Honduras ( Fuerzas Armadas de Honduras ), together with the border guard, represent the armed units of the state of Honduras . The military is a standing professional army of around 20,000 men. General military service was abolished in 1995.

Army's equipment is mainly bought in the United States . From today's point of view, the military is out of date and is currently unable to overcome the internal unrest caused by the maras (armed youth gangs) in the slums.

assignment

The state has no military alliances and the army is supposed to defend the country's borders.

history

A militia army was established in Honduras after World War II . Due to the poor living conditions and the economic situation, however, there were more and more armed conflicts with neighboring countries, especially El Salvador . The football war is an example of the uncontrollable state of the military. The United States Army has had bases at state borders since the 1970s . The military was ruled by successful putschists during this period . It was not until 1999 that the command was subordinated to the President of Honduras by a resolution of parliament. However, the latter has little control over the soldiers, as the coup in Honduras in 2009 showed: President Manuel Zelaya was captured by mutinous units on June 28 and kidnapped.

organization

The military has an annual budget of 100 million US dollars , which is 0.5 percent of the tax revenue. They are mainly used to buy equipment and weapons. From a military point of view, the weapons are out of date, mainly material from World War II, as demonstrated by the football war as the last war fought with propeller planes. There are currently around 20,000 standing soldiers in Honduras, of which 17,200 are in the army , 1,000 in the navy and 1,800 in the air force (as of 2009).

literature

• Walter Haberling: The armies of South America .

Web links

Commons : Armed Forces of Honduras  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• www.smolik.at/military.htm

Individual evidence

1. ^ Coup d'état - Military arrests Honduras' President Zelaya. In: Spiegel Online . June 28, 2009, accessed March 3, 2010 . 
2. ↑ Honduras: Coup at dawn. In: Focus Online . June 28, 2009, accessed March 20, 2010 .