Football War Timeline
Timeline of Football War
Early 20th Century: Salvadorans begin migrating to Honduras in large numbers
1966: In Honduras, as in much of Central America, large landowners or big corporations owned large majorities of the land. The United Fruit Company owned 10% percent of the land, making it hard for the average landowners to compete. In 1966, the United Fruit Company banded together with many other large companies to create la Federación Nacional de Agricultores y Ganaderos de Honduras (FENAGH; the National Federation of Farmers and Livestock-Farmers of Honduras). FENAGH was anti-campesino as well as anti-Salvadoran. This group put pressure on the Honduran president, General Oswaldo López Arellano, to protect the property rights of wealthy landowners.
1967: A new land reform law enacted in 1962 was fully enforced. This law gave the central government and municipalities much of the land occupied illegally by Salvadoran immigrants and redistributed it to native-born Honduran peoples as specified by the Land Reform Law. The land was taken from both immigrant farmers and squatters regardless of their claims to ownership or immigration status. This created problems for Salvadorans and Hondurans who were married. Thousands of Salvadoran laborers were expelled from Honduras, including both migrant workers and longer-term settlers. This general rise in tensions ultimately led to a military conflict.
June 8th 1969: There was fighting between fans during Honduras and El Salvador’s 1970 World Cup Qualifier’s game in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, which Honduras won 1-0.
June 15th 1969: Second game of the qualifier held in the Salvadoran capital of San Salvador, which El Salvador won 3-0. The game was followed by greater violence than the first game.
June 26th 1969: El Salvador won the playoff match 3-2, going into extra time. That same day, El Salvador dissolved all diplomatic ties with Honduras, stating that "the government of Honduras has not taken
Early 20th Century: Salvadorans begin migrating to Honduras in large numbers
1966: In Honduras, as in much of Central America, large landowners or big corporations owned large majorities of the land. The United Fruit Company owned 10% percent of the land, making it hard for the average landowners to compete. In 1966, the United Fruit Company banded together with many other large companies to create la Federación Nacional de Agricultores y Ganaderos de Honduras (FENAGH; the National Federation of Farmers and Livestock-Farmers of Honduras). FENAGH was anti-campesino as well as anti-Salvadoran. This group put pressure on the Honduran president, General Oswaldo López Arellano, to protect the property rights of wealthy landowners.
1967: A new land reform law enacted in 1962 was fully enforced. This law gave the central government and municipalities much of the land occupied illegally by Salvadoran immigrants and redistributed it to native-born Honduran peoples as specified by the Land Reform Law. The land was taken from both immigrant farmers and squatters regardless of their claims to ownership or immigration status. This created problems for Salvadorans and Hondurans who were married. Thousands of Salvadoran laborers were expelled from Honduras, including both migrant workers and longer-term settlers. This general rise in tensions ultimately led to a military conflict.
June 8th 1969: There was fighting between fans during Honduras and El Salvador’s 1970 World Cup Qualifier’s game in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, which Honduras won 1-0.
June 15th 1969: Second game of the qualifier held in the Salvadoran capital of San Salvador, which El Salvador won 3-0. The game was followed by greater violence than the first game.
June 26th 1969: El Salvador won the playoff match 3-2, going into extra time. That same day, El Salvador dissolved all diplomatic ties with Honduras, stating that "the government of Honduras has not taken