Western Hemisphere 89
MID#2040
Dispute Number: 2040
Date(s): February 1920 to February 29, 1920
Participants: 91 Honduras/93 Nicaragua
Outcome (and Settlement): Compromise (Negotiated)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: Honduras was in turmoil—between 1920 and 1923 it experienced seven-
teen different coups and uprisings. There was also a coup in September 1919, which
brought General Gutierrez to the presidency. In an attempt to overthrow the Gutierrez
regime, Nicaragua armed Honduran rebels led by Alberto Membreno, former vice
president and Gutierrez’s opposition in October’s presidential race. Membreno’s sup-
porters alleged army manipulation of the polls while Membreno fled to Nicaragua.
On January 14, 1920, the US Navy reported that the Honduran government
was growing worried that a revolutionary force aimed at Honduras was forming
in Nicaragua. Shortly before Gutierrez was scheduled to be sworn in on February
1, there were reports that “malcontents” had caused disturbances near disputed
territory and by February 3, the revolutionary forces had begun operations in
Honduras. Within two weeks the rebels had captured three Honduran towns forc-
ing Honduras to declare martial law in Tegucigalpa. The next day the Honduran
government arrested 20 for their political views, and Honduran forces quickly
gained the upper hand, so that by March 8 the rebels sought refuge near the Nica-
raguan border. With the rebel threat dissipated, Honduras released its political
prisoners. Talks began over the summer, and Honduras and Nicaragua signed the
Ampala Agreement on November 17.
Coding changes: End Date changed from February 28, 1920.
MID#1168
Dispute Number: 1168
Date(s): April 1922 to August 20, 1922
Participants: 91 Honduras/93 Nicaragua
Outcome (and Settlement): Compromise (Negotiated)
Fatalities: 101–250 deaths
Narrative: In 1922 Honduran political refugees in El Salvador and Nicaragua pre-
pared again to overthrow the Honduran regime with the support of host government
officials. Invasions began in February. On March 9, 200 armed Honduran refugees
raided the towns of El Paraiso, San Antonio de Flores, and Duyure, and on April 5
more attacked Esperanza and Octotepeque, from El Salvador, but were repulsed. On
July 16 Martinez Funes led a successful attack on El Paraiso from Nicaragua. The
United States proposed negotiations on August 9, and on August 20 the presidents
of Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Honduras signed a peace agreement aboard the USS
Tacoma in the Gulf of Fonseca. In 1923 the US government held the Washington
Conference, at which the Central American states signed the General Treaty of Peace
and Amity in February.
Coding changes: Start Date changed from February 1922.