Lopez Arellano, coup leader and twice president of Honduras, dies at 89
By APSunday, May 16, 2010
Ex-Honduran president Lopez Arellano dies at 89
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Former Honduran President Oswaldo Lopez Arellano has died of cancer at age 89.
A statement from his family says the former army chief who ruled Honduras twice in the 1960s and 1970s died Sunday in Tegucigalpa.
In 1963, then-Col. Lopez Arellano ousted civilian President Ramon Villeda Morales and two years later held a constituent assembly that formalized his position as president.
Lopez Arellano remained in power until 1971, when he backed elections won by Ramon Ernesto Cruz of the National Party. In 1972, he toppled Cruz in another coup.
Lopez Arellano himself was ousted by the armed forces in 1975 after he was accused him of receiving a bribe from United Brands bananas to reduce a banana export tax.
Tags: Central America, Honduras, Latin America And Caribbean, Obituaries, Tegucigalpa
