Carlos Roberto Reina

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Carlos Roberto Reina Idiáquez (March 13, 1926 - August 19, 2003) was a politician and President of Honduras from January 27, 1994 to January 27, 1998.

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[edit] Biography

He was born in the city of Comayagüela, Honduras. His wife, Bessy Watson, was an American citizen with whom he had two daughters. He completed university studies in the National Autonomous University of Honduras where he earned a bachelor's degree in Juridical and Social Sciences. Later, Reina continued his postgraduate studies in the cities of London and Paris.

Throughout his long political career Reina held a number of political governmental and international jobs, including judge in the court of Tegucigalpa, peace member of the international court of The Hague, Ambassador of Honduras to France, and president of the Central Executive Council (CCE) of the Liberal Party, among other important positions.

For his political activities in opposition to the military governments during his younger years, Reina was arrested several times. The first time was in 1944 for protesting against dictator Tiburcio Carías. Later in the 1960s he was sent to prison twice by General Oswaldo López, who had taken over the Honduran government though the use of military force. This led Reina to become a fierce defender of human rights throughout the rest of his life. In 1979 he was nominated president of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of the Organization of American States.

Reina’s socialist sympathies[citation needed] led him to develop a close friendship with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, which motivated him to travel to Cuba often.

[edit] President

Carlos Reina became president in November of 1993, after defeating Oswaldo Ramos, the candidate of the National Party with 56 % of the vote. He was accompanied by his vice presidential candidate: retired General Walter López, the politician Juan de la Cruz Avelar and the lady Guadalupe Jerezano Mejía.

On January 27, 1994 Reina, replaced president [Rafael Leonardo Callejas]. Reina inherited a relativelly difficult economic situation from the existing nationalist administration. Foreign debt … 'weighed' heavily on the economy of the country: debt service represented 40 % of Honduran exports. Even though approximately 700 million dollars were condoned to Honduras, the debt 'was' still higher than that it had been at the beginnings of 1990.

In his first presidential speech Reina launched his moral revolution: " I pawn my word of honor before God, before the people and before history, of which we will go forward in this enterprise that we have imposed upon ourselves. We will defeat corruption; we will give currency to social liberalism. We will see the moral revolution to its end." The success or failure of his plan it's still highly controversial.

One of Carlos Roberto Reina’s main objectives during his government was the reform of the Armed Forces. His reforms were mostly realized by the end of his first year in office. The first one was the total transfer of all power in hands of military men to civilian authorities, followed by the abolition of compulsory military service in the country. These and other reforms to the military are also controversial, were many sectors believe they helped in the proliferation of gangs, by eliminating a source of employment and education for young men.

[edit] Reina's death

Carlos Roberto Reina finished the presidency on January 27, 1998. Later, in October 1998, Reina began his period as president of the Central American Parliament (Parlacén), where he remained until October 28, 1999. Finally on August 19, 2003, Carlos Roberto Reina committed suicide from a gunshot at the age of 77. It is presumed that his suicide was the result of an unbearable disease, from which the ex-president had been suffering for some time[citation needed].

See also History of Honduras.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Rafael Leonardo Callejas		 President of Honduras
1994–1998		 Succeeded by
Carlos Roberto Flores