Paz Garcia, Policarpo

▪ 2001

      Honduran politician and military leader (b. Dec. 7, 1932, Goascorán, Honduras—d. April 16, 2000, Tegucigalpa, Honduras), was the last military ruler of Honduras. As an infantry officer, Paz distinguished himself in his country's so-called Soccer War (a conflict touched off by a riot at a soccer match) with El Salvador in 1969, turning back an enemy offensive in southern Honduras. In late 1978, after he was appointed commander of the Honduran armed forces, he staged a bloodless coup that toppled the military regime of Gen. Juan Alberto Melgar Castro. Paz ruled Honduras until 1980, when he permitted elections for a civilian government to be held. He headed a transitional government until 1982, then handed power over to the civilian president, Roberto Suazo Córdova, before retiring from public life. The handover marked the end of nearly 20 years of continuous military rule in Honduras.

* * *