Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero

Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero was born on 14 November 1943 in Tegucigalpa in Honduras, and was the President of Honduras from January 27 1990 to January 27 1994, representing the National Party of Honduras (PNH).

Career

He studied agricultural economics at Mississippi State University, becoming an expert on financial and economic issues connected to agronomy, and in 1968 he was made the Director of Economic Planning by the then President Oswaldo López. in 1975 another General and President, Juan Alberto Melgar, named Callejas Minister for Agriculture and Natural Resources. When another general and President Policarpo Paz took over in a coup in 1978, Callejas remained in his post. During the transition to democracy culminating in November 1981 elections, which were won by the Honduran Liberal Party (PLH), he rose within the ranks of the Honduran National Party (PNH), and in 1982 presided over their central committee. He supported former President Ricardo Maduro's "Unidad y Cambio" (Unity and Change) movement within the PNH that brought the party more towards the center, and a liberal economic path. Callejas then created his own faction, the "Movimiento Nacional Callejista" (National Callejista Movement), to advance his candidature in the 1985 presidential elections. At the time both main political parties allowed various candidates to stand, and while Callejas gained the highest vote of any candidate with 42.6%, the PLH candidates gained 51.5% of the total vote, and therefore it was their most voted for candidate, José Azcona, with 27.5% of the vote, who became President.

After leaving office Callejas faced accusations of "abuse of power" in eleven (11) cases in the Honduran Justice System. These accusations have since been cleared in a Court of Law.

President

Callejas was once again the PNH candidate in the 1989 elections where a reported 200,000 identifications from deceased Honduran citizens were used. Callejas won with 52.3% of the votes, becoming the first PNH President since 1972. He had to confront severe economic problems, and he followed the advice of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by cutting public spending, resulting in many public servants being laid off, and by devaluing the Lempira. At the time of the devaluation of the Lempira, the Honduran Central Bank, presided at the time by Ricardo Maduro Joest, did not have any dollars available to the general public. Instead, people were given back devalued Lempiras causing a lot of suffering in what was already one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere.Gasoline supplies were non-existent when he took office and long lines of cars were seen at the gas stations trying to obtain fuel. This led to many strikes and a lot of social agitation, until his government successfully negotiated with the United States the write-off of a $US430 million debt, in September 1991, relieving the economic hardship.

He presided over a liberal reformist government, opened the Honduran economy to local and foreign investment and managed steady growth during the first three years of his presidency, although during the fourth year fiscal indiscipline led to a new set of economic measures being imposed by the following government. Poverty was reduced by 8% under his tenure. Infrastructure was a priority and large investments in the rich Sula Valley area were made in more than 90 kilometers of four lane highways.

His government had some important accomplishments in the social area, such as the creation of the Family Assistance Program (PRAF) and the Honduran Fund for Social Investment (FHIS). Expatriates of the previous Military and Liberal governments were allowed to return to Honduras, with no risk to their lives, and the irregular forces of the Nicaraguan counter-revolutionaries, the Contras, were required to leave Honduras in April 1990 after intense negotiations.

US visa

On September 19 2006, 12 years after he left office, he was denied entry to the United States after being detained for a number of hours in Miami, Florida when he arrived at Customs & Immigration on a personal trip. The US government cancelled his visa alleging that he was guilty of corruption, even though he has not been convicted of any offences back in Honduras. He traveled back to Honduras by first taking a flight to a neighboring Central American country and then driving back into Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

External links

*CIDOB|c-015
* [http://www.globalpolicy.org/nations/launder/regions/2003/0122accentuates.htm Global Policy - Corruption]