Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Callejas and the second or maternal family name is Romero.
Rafael Callejas
President of Honduras
In office
January 27, 1990 – January 27, 1994
Preceded by José Azcona del Hoyo
Succeeded by Carlos Roberto Reina
Personal details
Born Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero
November 14, 1943
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Nationality Honduran
Political party National Party of Honduras
Spouse(s) Norma Gaborit
Alma mater Mississippi State University
Profession Businessman, politician

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

Early Life & Education

Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero' was born on 14 November 1943 in Tegucigalpa in Honduras. He studied agricultural economics at Mississippi State University becoming an expert on financial and economic issues connected to agronomy. At Mississippi State University, Callejas earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1965 and a Masters of Science degree in 1966.[1] Also in 1966, Mississippi State University's Department of Agricultural Economics published Callejas' thesis titled Hog Production Opportunities in Mississippi.[2] In 1990, Callejas was named Mississippi State University's Alumni of the Year[3] and was invited with U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle delivered the university's commencement address.[4]

Career

Between 1967 and 1971 Callejas worked at the Council for Economic Planning (CONSUPLANE).[5] In 1968, Callejas 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 Liberal Party of Honduras (PLH), he rose within the ranks of the National Party of Honduras (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.

Callejas is the current president of the Federación Nacional Autónoma de Fútbol de Honduras. He is the second president of this institution to take Honduras to a FIFA World Cup WC 2010.

President

His election in 1989 marked the first time since 1932 that power was transferred peacefully between Honduras' two major parties.

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.

He presided over a liberal reformist government, opened the Honduran economy to local and foreign investment and managed steady growth during the last 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.

Accusations

He was accused of 7 counts of corruption during his term, including passports traffic for Asian citizens, the irregular sale of machinery from the Secretaría de Comunicaciones, Obras Públicas y Transportes (SECOPT) to members of the existing UNION, previously evaluated by AID, falsification of state documents, abuse of authority, and appropriation of state funds. He avoided prosecution by securing diplomatical? jobs that granted legal immunity for 8 years until his political party returned to power. With a new supreme court under his political influence he was acquitted on all counts in an Honduran court. He was also accused by a far right wing aide in the Bush White House and for that reason he was included in a Bush executive order resulting in his denial of US visa status.

Publications

References

  1. ↑ "Quayle, Callejas Deliver Commencement Addresses With AM-Bush, Bjt". Associated Press. 12 May 1990. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  2. ↑ Callejas Romero, Rafael (1966). Hog Production Opportunities in Mississippi. Starkville, Mississippi, United States: Mississippi State University Department of Agricultural Economics.
  3. ↑ "College and School Alumni of the Year". List of Alumni of the Year Awardees. Mississippi State University. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  4. ↑ "Quayle, Callejas Deliver Commencement Addresses With AM-Bush, Bjt". Associated Press. 12 May 1990. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  5. ↑ "Rafael Leonardo Callejas". Biography of Rafael Leonardo Callejas. Centro de Estudios y Documentación Internacionales de Barcelona. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  6. ↑ Callejas Romero, Rafael (1966). Hog Production Opportunities in Mississippi. Starkville, Mississippi, United States: Mississippi State University Department of Agricultural Economics.
  7. ↑ Callejas, Rafael Leonardo (1990). Plan de gobierno, 1990-1994 : cambio : participación, bienestar y dignidad nacional. Tegucigalpa: República de Honduras.
  8. ↑ Callejas, Rafael Leonardo (1990). Declaración del Gobierno de la República de Honduras sobre la prevención y el control del alcoholismo, la drogadicción y la farmacodependencia. Tegucigalpa: Instituto Hondureño para la Prevención del Alcoholismo, Drogadicción y Farmacodependencia.
  9. ↑ Callejas, Rafael Leonardo (1993). Las relaciones entre Chile y Honduras : nuevas perspectivas a la luz del proceso de paz en Centroamérica. Santiago de Chile: Consejo Chileno para las Relaciones Internacionales.
Political offices
Preceded by
José Azcona del Hoyo		 President of Honduras
1990–1994 		Succeeded by
Carlos Roberto Reina