Paz García, Policarpo (1932–1991)

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Paz García, Policarpo (1932–1991)

Policarpo Paz García (b. 1932; d. 1991), president of Honduras (25 July 1980–27 January 1982). Paz was commander of the armed forces under President Juan Melgar Castro (1975–1978). Leader of the military junta that overthrew Melgar Castro on 7 August 1978, he acted as chief of state and chief of the armed forces until the Constituent Assembly elected him provisional president of Honduras. Under Paz, land reform slowed and external debt accelerated. His government was reputedly corrupt, and rumors persisted of his mafia and drug trafficking ties. The United States liberally supplied aid to Honduras under Paz, considering his government a bulwark against the communist regime in Nicaragua.

See alsoHonduras .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mark B. Rosenberg and Philip L. Shepherd, eds., Honduras Confronts Its Future: Contending Perspectives on Critical Issues (1986).

Thomas P. Anderson, Politics in Central America: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua (1988).

Additional Bibliography

González de Oliva, Alexis Argentina. Gobernantes hondureños: Siglos XIX-XX. Tegucigalpa: Editorial Universitaria, 1996–1997.

Schulz, Donald E., and Deborah Sundloff Schula. The United States, Honduras, and the Crisis in Central America. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994.

                                   Joyce E. Naylon

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