"Football War" - how the ball game turned into a war of destruction. Six-day "football" war
Six-day "football" war. Why did it start?
"Football War", which went down in history as the name of the armed conflict between El Salvador and Honduras in the period from July 14 to 21, 1969, caused by contradictions between these countries and unleashed by the ruling circles of El Salvador, as well as a clash of interests of various US monopolies in Central America. The pretext for the "Football War" was the break in diplomacy, relations on June 26 between Honduras and El Salvador in connection with incidents at the stadium during meetings of the nat. teams of these countries, contesting the right to participate in the World Cup. The "football war" began on July 14 with the invasion of El Salvador, troops in Honduras. For 4 days, Salvadoran troops advanced 60 km deep into Honduras, capturing the area of \u200b\u200bPl. up to 400 km2. After the intervention of the Organization of American States (OAS) on July 18, the offensive of the Salvadoran troops was stopped. By July 21, hostilities had ceased. In early August, El Salvador withdrew its troops from the occupied ter. Honduras. Separate skirmishes on the border continued until the spring of 1970. During the fighting, and then the persecution of Salvadorans living in Honduras, and Hondurans in El Salvador, up to 3 thousand people died. The "football war" was clear evidence of the actions that the US monopolies repeatedly resort to to strengthen their dominance in the countries dependent on them. The immediate cause of the war was a long-standing dispute between the two countries regarding the exact location of certain sections of the common border. Honduras was also greatly annoyed by the significant trade advantages granted to the more developed Salvadoran economy under the rules of the Central American Common Market. Both countries experienced significant economic difficulties, both were run by the military; both governments sought to divert the attention of the population from pressing domestic political and economic problems.El Salvador, being the smallest and most populous of all Central American states, had a more developed economy, but experienced an acute shortage of cultivable land. Much of the land in El Salvador was controlled by large landowners, leading to "land hunger" and the migration of landless peasants to neighboring Honduras.
On the eve of the war
The incident that provoked open hostilities and gave the war its name took place in San Salvador in June 1969. During the month, the football teams of the two countries had to play three matches for reaching the final of the 1970 FIFA World Cup. Riots arose during the first match in Tegucigalpa, but during the second match in San Salvador they reached alarming proportions. In El Salvador, Honduran football players and fans were beaten, Honduran flags were burned; Honduras was hit by a backlash against Salvadorans, including two vice-consuls. An unspecified number of Salvadorans died or were injured in the attacks, and tens of thousands fled the country. Emotions ran high, and real hysteria arose in the press of both countries. On June 27, 1969, Honduras severed diplomatic relations with El Salvador.
July 14 Salvadoran military establishment launched concerted military action against Honduras.
Consequences of the war
In fact, both sides lost the war. From 60 to 130 thousand Salvadorans were expelled or fled from Honduras, which led to economic collapse in some areas. About 2,000 people died in the conflict, mostly civilians. Bilateral trade came to a complete halt and the border was closed, hurting both economies and turning the Central American Common Market into an organization that exists only on paper.
The political influence of the military in both countries increased after the war.
The World Cup continues. On June 15, the Honduras national team played, so it's time to remember the Football War.
The war took place between El Salvador and Honduras, and lasted from July 14 to 20, 1969. The name is misleading to many and makes you think that football passions pushed the two Central American nations to war. Note that its prerequisites were much deeper than dissatisfaction with the results of the match.
The cause of the conflict was the disputed territories and illegal migration to the territory of Honduras.
There was no real border between the countries, both of them claimed certain territories located in the border areas. The more economically developed El Salvador suffered from overpopulation. And Honduras, which in terms of population density was 8 times inferior to El Salvador, had a significant amount of uninhabited territories.
This has led to an increase in illegal migration from El Salvador to the neighboring country. By 1960, there were about 60 thousand illegal migrants in Honduras, and by 1969 their number had increased to 300 thousand. In 1967, an agreement was concluded between the two countries, according to which immigrants from El Salvador were given a period of 5 legalize their stay in the territory of Honduras, or leave it. Note that relations between countries at that time were already significantly damaged.
As early as May 25, 1967, soldiers of the El Salvador National Guard arrested four citizens of Honduras in the disputed territories.
One of them was accused of killing two Salvadorans in 1961 and 1963. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In turn, about 50 Salvadoran soldiers ended up in the hands of the Hondurans.
The incident was only resolved in 1968, when prisoners from both sides were released home. But the participants in the events, like many of the analysts, believe that it was the events of May-June 1967 that were the prologue to the football war.
The aggravation of relations occurred in early 1969, when the President of Honduras, Oswaldo Lopez Arellano, tried to shift the blame for the deplorable state of the Honduran economy onto the Salvadoran settlers.
In January 1969, the Honduran government refused to renew the 1967 emigration agreement, threatening to confiscate the land holdings of those who were not from Honduras. Materials of a chauvinistic nature began to appear in the press. Until the end of May 1969, Salvadorans began to leave Honduras en masse and return to their homeland, which was already overpopulated.
Tensions between the two countries reached their peak in June 1969, when the football teams of Honduras and El Salvador played three games in a row.
as part of the 1970 World Cup qualifying round for the right to play a play-off with the Haitian team. Then one team from North, Central America and the Caribbean reached the final (the second was Mexico - the host of the championship), and the selection followed a complex pattern. The teams of El Salvador and Honduras won their groups and went one on one in the "semi-final".
Matches that took place in the capitals of the states were accompanied by beatings of both fans and players of the visiting teams.
In the first game, which took place on June 8 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras won - 1:0. In another match, on June 15 (45 years ago!), El Salvador won - 3:0. During this match, the flag of Honduras was burned at the stadium in San Salvador, and the national anthem of the country was desecrated. In Honduras itself, beatings and murders of Salvadorans began, while embassy employees were among the victims.
While FIFA, due to the equal number of points scored by the teams, appointed an additional match on a neutral field, an additional call for military service was announced in El Salvador. It happened on June 24th. And on June 27, on the day of the third match, which was held in Mexico City, Honduras severed relations with El Salvador. In the game, Honduras lost 2-3, with El Salvador snatching the win in extra time.
The fighting began on the morning of July 14, 1969, with a Salvadoran air raid on Honduran air force facilities.
At the same time, Salvadoran troops crossed the border and began to advance deep into Honduran territory. In a few days, the Salvadorans occupied an area of 1600 square kilometers, but the further advance of their troops was stopped. Aviation of El Salvador lost 4 combat aircraft, which seriously affected the morale of the pilots. At the same time, the aircraft of the Honduran Air Force carried out effective support for their ground forces.
On July 15, the Organization of American States, at an emergency meeting, addressed the belligerents with a proposal to cease fire. On the night of July 18, this proposal was accepted, and on July 20 the ceasefire agreement entered into force. This day is considered the date of the end of the conflict - as a result, the war lasted about 100 hours, for which it received another name - the Hundred Hour War. But the Salvadoran troops continued to occupy part of the Honduran territory, and on July 27 the Honduran Air Force bombed 5 Salvadoran cities. The peace agreement was signed only on August 5, and the withdrawal of troops began at the same time.
The number of victims on both sides is estimated at 2-4 thousand people. Basically, it was the civilian population of Honduras.
Material losses amounted to 50 million US dollars. From 60 to 130 thousand Salvadorans were forced to leave Honduras. The existence of the Central American Common Market was threatened. The issue of disputed territories was resolved only in the 90s. 20th century
Remarkably, the football war went down in history as the last war in which piston fighters took an active part. Honduran Air Force Major Fernando Soto shot down 3 enemy aircraft, which is why he is sometimes called the last ace of piston aviation.
I don’t remember exactly who, in my opinion, one of the sports journalists called the World Football Championships “the third world war”.
Of course, this is a clear exaggeration, but there is no doubt that there is some truth in these words. Relations between countries cannot but be reflected on the football field, since football has long ceased to be just a sport, but is a socially significant phenomenon that permeates all aspects of the life of modern society.
Unfortunately, one does not have to look far for examples - the recent European Championship qualifying match between and Albania showed how thin the line is between sports rivalry on the field and hostile confrontation between nations. So the slogan "football is out of politics", unfortunately, remains just a slogan.
Now I want to remind you of those football events that were painted in far from football colors.
1955 USSR - Germany: no room for error
In 1955, on August 21, Moscow hosted, without exaggeration, the most significant friendly match in the history of football. National teams met USSR and Germany - the main participants and main opponents of the most terrible war in the history of mankind, which claimed tens of millions of human lives on both sides.
At that time, diplomatic relations were not even established between the countries, moreover, in response to the entry Germany to the NATO bloc, precisely in 1955, on the initiativeSoviet Union The Warsaw Pact was formed. The significance of the game is evidenced by the fact that the start of the next championship Germany was pushed back two weeks.
To be honest, it still remains a mystery to me how the leadership of the USSR authorized the holding of this meeting. The fact is that the Central Committee of the CPSU perceived sports defeats very painfully - suffice it to recall the disbanded CDKA team, which forms the backbone of the national team that lost to Yugoslavia in 1952.
And a year later, the question of sending the football team to the Olympics in Melbourne was up in the air until the last moment, precisely because of a series of failures in friendly matches. And then... The German national team is the reigning world champion and losing to the Germans in Moscow in the year of the decade of the Great Victory - such leaders of our state could not even dream of in their worst nightmare.
One way or another, the match took place. It ended with the victory of the Soviet team, a strong-willed victory - the Soviet football players, losing 1:2, in the second half managed to score two goals against the reigning world champions and won 3:2. Otherwise, it could not be, because the WINNERS were sitting in the stands.
War for the Islands: the sequel to the football field
The year 1982 was marked by one of the largest military conflicts since World War II. This conflict occurred between England and Argentina over a small and unattractive piece of land - the Falkland Islands, which, nevertheless, are important as a transit point between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Although the war was not officially declared, the conflict was widespread, with the destruction of aircraft and warships.
It so happened that already four years later, at the World Cup in Mexico, the teams of these countries met each other in the 1/4 finals. The main theme that heated up the situation before the game was the theme of the past war.
He also added fuel to the fire, speaking in the spirit that, they say, this game will be revenge for the dead Argentine guys. Maradona, on the other hand, will become the main character of this meeting, both positive and negative.
Argentina won 2-1 and both of Maradona's goals went down in football history forever - he scored the first with his hand, later saying that it was the "hand of God" and the second - running half the field with the ball and beating half of the opposing team. By the way, on June 22, the day this meeting took place, the parishioners of the "Church of Maradoniana" - and Argentina has one - celebrate Easter.
In 1998, the teams crossed again at the World Championships, this time at the 1/8 final stage. The theme of the war was also exaggerated then, although not as actively as 12 years ago, but the “hand of God” was not forgotten by the British. It was one of the brightest fights of that World Cup, and again it was marked by both a masterpiece - the goal of Michael Owen, and a scandal - the provocative actions of Diego Simeone, which led to the expulsion from the field of David Beckham.
The main and extra time then ended in a draw 2:2, the Argentines were stronger on penalties.
Only four years later, the British managed to take revenge. On they defeated the Argentines in the group stage match, thanks to the only goal scored by Beckham from the penalty spot. Argentina did not leave the group then.
The war is real
Well, now about the real tragedy - the infamous "football war". El Salvador and Honduras met in the 1970 World Cup qualifiers. The first game ended with a minimal victory for Honduras 1:0, in the return game at home El Salvador won 3:0.
And it was after the return game, which took place on June 15, 1969, that tragic events took place in San Salvador that led to a military conflict - football players and fans of Honduras were beaten, in response, a wave of acts of violence against Salvadorans took place in Honduras. All this soon turned into a real war with the use of tanks and aircraft, with thousands of victims.
In fairness, it should be noted that football was only a detonator of the conflict, its real causes are much deeper - these are the territorial claims of both countries, not the best migration relations, land issues.
Football peacefulness
In order not to end on a sad note, I will give a wonderful example of the unity of fans of teams competing on the field.
So, summer 2004, Portugal, the final part of the European Championship. A unique situation has developed in group "C" to the last round. It was enough for the teams of Sweden and Denmark to play a productive draw between themselves, starting with a score of 2:2, and both of them would have passed on.
The fact is that in case of equality of points, it was not the difference between goals scored and goals conceded, but the results of personal meetings that were taken into account. The Swedes and the Danes beat the Bulgarians, and played against Italy 1:1 and 0:0 respectively. Thus, in the event of a 2-2 draw between them, Italy, with a zero goal difference in meetings between these three teams, would have the worst indicator in terms of the number of goals scored in these games.
The match ended with a score of 2:2, and the Swedes equalized in the penultimate minute. We can say that it was a conspiracy, but we can say that the teams have achieved the result they need - it's not for me to judge that.
But I remember very well the brightly dressed Danes and Swedes sitting on the podium, mixed with beer in their hands and with posters like “Arrividerci, Italy” and “Sweden-Denmark - 2: 2”. Such are the pacifists.
June 14, 2016 marks forty-seven years since the start of one of the most curious military conflicts of the 20th century - the "Football War" between El Salvador and Honduras, which lasted exactly a week - from July 14 to 20, 1969. The immediate cause for the outbreak of conflict was the loss of the Honduras team to the El Salvador team in the play-off matches of the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifying round.
Despite the "frivolous" cause, the conflict had rather deep reasons. Among them are the issues of demarcation of the state border - El Salvador and Honduras disputed certain territories from each other, and the trade advantages that the more developed El Salvador had in the framework of the organization of the Central American Common Market. In addition, the military juntas that ruled both countries saw the search for an external enemy as a way to distract the population from pressing internal problems.
Let's find out the details of this conflict...
It is well known that football in Latin America has always stood and stands in a special place. However, considering the history of the development of this conflict, it should be noted that the football confrontation was not in itself the real reason the tragedy that broke out. Many previous events slowly but inevitably led to the sad end of relations between the two Central American states, but it was the final qualifying match between the teams of these countries that was the last straw that overflowed the flaming cup.
There are a number of theories regarding the appearance of the name of the state of Honduras, but none of them has scientific confirmation today. According to one legend, the name of the country comes from a phrase Columbus uttered in 1502 during his fourth and last voyage to the New World. His ship managed to survive in a strong storm, and the famous navigator said: “I thank God that he gave us a chance to get out of these depths” (Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de estas honduras). This statement gave the name to the nearby Cape Gracias a Dios (Cabo Gracias a Dios) and the area to the west of it - the country of Honduras (Honduras).
El Salvador, being a small in area, but the most densely populated Central American state, had a developed economy in the second half of the last century, but experienced a shortage of land suitable for cultivation. The main part of the land in the country was controlled by a narrow circle of landowners, which led to a "land hunger" and the resettlement of peasants in a neighboring country - Honduras. Honduras was territorially much larger, not so densely populated and economically less developed.
Relations between neighbors began to escalate in the early sixties, when numerous immigrants from El Salvador began to occupy and cultivate neighboring lands, illegally crossing the border in different places and in fact taking away work from the indigenous inhabitants of the country, thereby causing their well-founded discontent. By January 1969, the number of such defectors, seeking a better life on the territory of Honduras, amounted, according to various estimates, from one hundred to three hundred thousand people. The prospect of dominance in the economy and the dominance of the Salvadorans gave rise to strong public irritation, fearing for the possible territorial redistribution of the lands illegally seized by the Salvadorans, the nationalist organizations of Honduras since 1967 have tried in every possible way to draw the attention of the authorities to the current situation by organizing strikes and rallies, as well as holding mass civil actions . In parallel with this, the peasant population of Honduras more and more urgently demanded reform Agriculture and land redistribution throughout the country. The dictator of the classical type, Osvaldo López Arellano, who came to power through a coup, seemed smart to look for the extreme in the person of immigrants from El Salvador who were objectionable to the majority of the country's inhabitants.
A couple of years later, Arellano, with his mediocre management, finally drove the country's economy into a corner. The main cause of all the economic problems in Honduras, the decline in wages and high unemployment, again, were uninvited neighbors from El Salvador. In 1969, the authorities refused to renew the 1967 immigration treaty, and in April of that year, the country's government passed a law according to which all immigrants who cultivate land without legal documentary evidence of ownership were deprived of their property and could be expelled from the country to any moment. It should be noted that at the same time, this legislative act bypassed the lands of oligarchs and foreign companies, among which one of the largest at that time was the American corporation United Fruit Company.
The United Fruit Company, or United Fruit Company, was a powerful American corporation that shipped tropical fruits from the Third World to the United States and Europe. The company was founded on March 30, 1899 and had the support of the ruling circles of the United States. Its heyday came at the beginning and middle of the last century, when it controlled many agricultural territories and transport networks in Central America, the West Indies, Ecuador and Colombia. Of the main patrons, it is worth noting the Dulles brothers (CIA Director Allen Dulles and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles) and President Eisenhower. The company had a strong influence on the political and economic development of a number of Latin American countries and was a typical example of the impact of a transnational corporation on the life of the "banana republics".
United Fruit Company's current successor is Chiquita Brands International. On March 14, 2007, the company was fined $25 million by the US Department of Justice for allegedly collaborating with Colombian military groups that are on the list of terrorist organizations.
The heat of passions was also facilitated by the Honduran print media, in which articles about immigrants constantly appeared, depicting them as cruel, illiterate, humiliating the local population of illegal migrants. At the same time, seeing a serious threat to the peaceful life of wealthy Salvadorans in the return of homeless and unemployed compatriots to their homeland, the media of El Salvador published articles about the powerless situation of their immigrants in Honduras, their mistreatment and increasing murders in neighboring territory. As a result, relations between the two border states became extremely strained, suspicions and hatred grew.
Fearing for their own lives, having lost their income from cultivating land, the Salvadorans began to return back to their homeland. A display of refugees and their frightening stories filled the TV screens and the pages of the Salvadoran newspapers. Rumors circulated everywhere about the violence of the Honduran military expelling immigrants. By June 1969, the number of returnees reached sixty thousand, and the mass exodus created a tense situation on the Salvadoran-Honduran border, where things sometimes came to armed clashes.
At the same time, the Salvadoran public services were not ready for the arrival of such a large number of refugees, at the same time the political situation sharply worsened, discontent intensified in society, threatening to lead to a social explosion. In order to regain the support of the population, the government needed success in the confrontation with the Republic of Honduras.
Soon the political elite of the country announced that the lands owned by Salvadoran immigrants in Honduras would become part of El Salvador, thus increasing its territory by one and a half times. Local print media immediately began to present the resettlement of their compatriots “deceived by the government of Honduras” as expulsion from their lawful lands.
The conflict came to its climax when the teams of the two warring neighbors agreed on the results of the draw in the qualifying stage of the world football championship. A special love, a kind of religion, with which every inhabitant of Latin America, from yard punks to political leaders, relates to football, contributed to the fact that the mood of the fans at any moment could develop into both a stormy celebration and a dangerous brawl. In addition, on the eve of the start of the qualifying games for the World Cup, the print media of both countries in every possible way fomented the growing political conflict, not hesitating in expressions and adding fuel to the extremely heated situation between the ruling circles and the population of El Salvador and Honduras.
When on June 8, 1969, in Tegucigalpa (the capital and at the same time the largest city of Honduras), during the first qualifying match, the Honduras national team won thanks to the only ball that hit the gates of the Salvadorans in the extra time appointed by the judge, the fury of the fans of the losing team resulted in a serious clash. As a result of the conflict that seized the stands and the playing field, a local landmark, the central stadium of the capital of Honduras, almost burned down.
After the first match on June 15, the return match took place at the opponent's stadium in San Salvador (respectively, the capital of El Salvador). And although the hosts won a convincing victory, defeating the national team of Honduras and scoring three unanswered goals, this revenge could not be called clean. On the eve of the match, the Honduran athletes, according to their own stories, did not sleep because of the noise and unrest in the street. Moreover, that night, practically in their underwear, they had to leave their own rooms and go outside. The hotel was engulfed in flames on one side. It is not surprising that in the morning the sleepy athletes were completely unprepared to fight on the field.
The riots that began after the match forced the losing team of Honduras, who quite rightly feared for their lives, under heavy guard of the military in armored personnel carriers, hastily run away. A whole wave of pogroms and arson swept through San Salvador, and hundreds of victims turned to hospitals in the capital in those days. Not only ordinary citizens of El Salvador were attacked, but even two vice-consuls of the country. The exact number of those who died that day could not be precisely established. Of course, the events that took place further complicated relations between the countries. A few hours after the end of the match in San Salvador, the President of Honduras filed an official note of protest, and the border between the states was closed. On June 24, 1969, the mobilization of reservists was announced in El Salvador, and on the 26th, a decree was issued declaring a state of emergency in the country.
However, football was not over yet. The “draw” formed after the first two matches, according to the existing rules, required an additional third fight, which was decided to be held on neutral territory, namely, in Mexico. It is worth adding that the print media of both countries at that time were already openly calling on their compatriots for military action. It is quite logical that on June 27, the largest stadium in Mexico City, on the day of the last and decisive match, turned into a real field of a completely non-sports battle. Many hoped that this football match would be able to put an end to the long-term conflict of neighbors. But, alas, it turned out quite the opposite. After the end of the first half, the Honduras team was leading with a score of 2:1, but during the second forty-five minutes, the Salvadorans managed to catch up with their rivals. As a result, the fate of the fight was again decided by extra time.
The emotions of the fans at that time reached extreme emotional tension, and when the El Salvador striker scored the decisive goal, as a result of which his team went to the next qualifying stage of the championship, leaving the Hondurans overboard, events in the stadium and beyond began to develop rapidly and resembled a broken dam . Unimaginable chaos reigned everywhere, everything and everyone was beaten. Instead of hopes for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, the match completely eliminated this possibility. On the same day, the rival countries of the competition broke off diplomatic relations, mutually accusing each other. Politicians once again skillfully used football battles in their own interests.
After the mobilization announced in El Salvador, in the shortest possible time, from peasants trained and armed by an anti-communist organization called ORDEN, about sixty thousand people were put under arms. They were led by eleven thousand people (together with the National Guard) of the regular army of El Salvador. It is worth noting that these troops were well equipped and trained. They were trained by CIA instructors to fight left-wing rebels. Against the background of a really powerful "mother infantry" aviation of El Salvador - FAS (Fuerza Aegea Salvadorena) looked weak. There were only thirty-seven aircraft that Honduras received from the United States, and even fewer trained pilots - thirty-four people. They tried to solve the problem of the shortage of pilots by recruiting mercenaries, but only five people were found. There were huge problems with the materiel, since all the aircraft were quite outdated.
On July 14, 1969, at 5:50 am, real hostilities began, during which Salvadoran aviation, consisting of eleven propeller-driven aircraft and five twin-engine bombers, attacked several targets at once along the border with Honduras. Panic began in the country: shops were closed en masse, and residents, having collected the necessary belongings, were looking for bomb shelters and any basements, fearing to fall under shelling. The Salvadoran army successfully advanced along the main roads connecting the countries and in the direction of the islands belonging to Honduras in the Gulf of Fonseca. At 23:00, the Honduran military forces were ordered to strike back.
An interesting fact is that by the time the hostilities began, the aircraft of both sides consisted of American aircraft from the Second World War, half of which had long since been out of order for technical reasons. The "football war" was the last battle in which propeller-driven aircraft with piston engines took part. Air sorties were made by the F4U Corsair, P-51 Mustang, T-28 Trojan, and even Douglas DC-3 bombers converted into bombers. The condition of the aircraft was very deplorable, these models did not have mechanisms for dropping bombs and they were thrown manually directly from the windows. There was no question of accuracy, the shells rarely hit their intended targets.
The command of Honduras was well aware that the rapidly launched offensive of El Salvador, blocking the main highways and the rapid advance of enemy troops inland could lead to their complete defeat. And then it was decided to organize a series of air raids on the main oil terminals and the enemy's oil refinery. The calculation was correct, deepening eight kilometers deep into the territory of a neighbor and capturing the capitals of two departments by the evening of July 15, the Salvadoran troops had to stop the offensive, because they simply ran out of fuel, and new supplies became impossible due to thoughtful bombing.
According to some reports, the very stadium in Tegucigalpa, which hosted the first qualifying match between the teams of the warring countries, was designated as the ultimate goal of the advance of the Salvadoran troops.
The very next day after the outbreak of hostilities, the Organization of American States tried to intervene in the conflict, calling on the warring parties to reconcile, end the war and withdraw Salvadoran troops from the territory of Honduras. El Salvador initially responded with a categorical refusal, demanding from the opposite side an apology and reparations for the damage caused to its citizens, as well as further security guarantees for Salvadorans living in neighboring, now hostile, territory. However, on July 18, due to the impossibility of further advancement of the Salvadoran troops and the creation of a stalemate, a truce was nevertheless reached, the parties, under the threat of economic sanctions, made concessions, and two days later the fire was completely ceased. Until the 29th, El Salvador became stubborn and refused to withdraw troops. The withdrawal of troops took place only after serious threats from the Organization of American States to impose economic sanctions and the decision to place special representatives in Honduras to monitor the security of Salvadoran citizens. With the onset of August, the Salvadorans began to withdraw their troops from the territory of the neighboring state, which continued almost until the middle of the month. And tensions between the countries persisted until 1979, when, finally, a peace agreement was signed by the heads of El Salvador and Honduras.
The "football war" was also the last military conflict in which propeller-driven aircraft with piston engines fought against each other. Both sides used American aircraft from World War II. The state of the Salvadoran air force was so deplorable that the bombs had to be manually dropped.
The settlement of the dispute over the border lands was referred to the international court, but the process was extremely slow with occasional unfriendly gestures from both sides. The International Court of Justice ruled only thirteen years after the war. Two-thirds of the land in dispute was awarded to Honduras. The territories in the Gulf of Fonseca were only distributed in 1992: the island of El Tigre went to the Hondurans, and Meangherita and Meangerita to El Salvador.
Despite the agreements reached that the further stay of the Salvadorans on Honduran territory will take place in order to avoid repressions under the vigilant control of international observers, it is not necessary to talk about the victory of El Salvador in this incomprehensible and senseless war. In fact, the war was lost by both sides. According to various sources, the number of dead citizens of both sides ranged from two to six thousand people, but at the same time, hundreds of thousands of residents were left in the open air and without any means of subsistence. The consequences, despite the transience and short duration of the military confrontation, turned out to be extremely difficult not only for these countries, but for the whole of Central America. The border became closed, bilateral trade activity ceased, and the Central American Common Market became an organization that exists only on paper. It is clear that this has further exacerbated the already difficult economic situation of Honduras and El Salvador. The already terrible economy of both countries was almost completely destroyed.
However, the end of the battles marked the beginning of an arms race throughout the region. In particular, in 1975, Salvadorans acquired a batch of jet-powered Hurricanes from Israel, and Honduras embarked on the path of strategic partnership with the United States, having received huge military assistance from the latter. Among other things, their Air Force acquired F-86 Saber jet fighters and T-37 Dragonfly attack aircraft.
On May 31, 1970, when the World Cup kicked off in Mexico, the El Salvador team, which emerged victorious in the playoffs, was accompanied by a large crowd of fans, among whom were participants in the Hundred Hour War. The Salvadoran team ended up in the same group as the USSR and, ironically, performed extremely unsuccessfully. They suffered three devastating defeats, failed to score a single goal, but conceded nine goals, two of which were scored by Anatoly Fedorovich Byshovets. Soon after the start of the championship, the El Salvador team was going home - to a new hot spot on the planet.
The consequences of their own aggressive actions, which caused the termination of trade relations with Honduras, the collapse of the economy, the increase in spending on reforming the army, as well as the return of thousands of refugees from neighboring territory, backfired for El Salvador on a large-scale civil war that broke out in the country in the eighties. Honduras has passed a similar fate, but the country still remains one of the poorest in the entire region, for example, in 1993, over seventy percent of the population was below the official poverty level. In the 1980s, several “leftist” groups “earned” to the fullest in the country, carrying out many terrorist attacks against Americans and odious figures of the regime. http://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/sixflags/48226.html
http://ria.ru/analytics/20090714/177373106.html
http://www.airwar.ru/history/locwar/lamerica/football/football.html
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Another strange war - and here. Let's also remember
BREAD AND COFFEE
The problem, however, was that El Salvador, with one and a half times as many inhabitants as Honduras, occupied almost five times less territory. Fleeing from the "land hunger", the Salvadoran peasants arbitrarily moved to Honduras, since the border between the two countries existed only on the map, they occupied empty plots here and began to cultivate them, without having any documents for their ownership.
For the time being, the Honduran authorities did not put up any obvious obstacles to this movement. But when the number of illegal immigrants reached several hundred thousand, irritation began to grow in Honduran society. When the Salvadoran settlers began to settle in the cities, taking, in particular, almost the entire shoe trade into their hands, discontent among the natives began to manifest itself in increasingly sharp forms. And it had to happen that during this period the sports lot brought together in the semi-finals of the qualifying games of the upcoming Mexico City-70 World Cup two irreconcilable rivals - the teams of these very republics, El Salvador and Honduras!
Qualifiers
According to the regulations, the first match took place on June 8, 1969 in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. Crowds of fans from El Salvador came to the game. Many seats in the stands were occupied by settlers, who, of course, also supported their own. The match ended in victory for the hosts with a minimum score of 1:0. Immediately, a rumor spread that one of the Salvadoran fans shot herself, saying that "she cannot bear such a shame." Passions ran high, a wave of fights and riots swept through the city.
A week later, on June 15, the second leg was held in the capital of El Salvador, San Salvador. This time the victory went to the Salvadorans, and with a much more impressive result - 3:0. It must have been from an overabundance of emotions that the Salvadoran fans beat up the Honduran football players and coaches after the match.
The press of Honduras, dissatisfied with both the unfortunate defeat and the arranged reception, unleashed a real information war against southern neighbor. Radio Honduras reported that the rivals desecrated the Honduran flag and anthem. Seething passions spilled over the edge (shopozz.ru). Honduran fans in a nationalist frenzy attacked the barracks where salaried workers from El Salvador lived. In the ensuing bloody battle, more than a hundred people were killed. The consular missions of El Salvador were subjected to a pogrom, their employees were severely beaten.
But the main events were yet to come. According to the approved regulations, the opponents had to play one more match on a neutral field - in the Mexican capital of Mexico City. The game took place on June 27th. Crowds of excited fans from both republics arrived in Mexico City to support their own people. As if on purpose, the game developed nervously. The first half was left for the Honduran athletes, who took the lead with a score of 2:1. But then the Salvadorans scored the second goal, and in extra time they snatched the victory with a total result of 3:2. On that day, the Mexican police had plenty of work until the evening: here and there fights broke out between groups of excited fans.
Shortly after the match, Honduras announced the severance of diplomatic relations with El Salvador. But the flywheel of the conflict has only just begun to unwind. The very next day, the Honduran authorities began to drive illegal immigrants from cultivated land, expelling them back to El Salvador. In Tegucigalpa and other cities, local ultra-patriots smashed shops and shops belonging to immigrants from the neighboring republic. Crowds of refugees poured into El Salvador, fueling militant moods there as well. A cloudy wave of mutual accusations and insults rose in the press of both countries. An already fragile world hung by a thread...
BATTLE ON THE GROUND AND IN THE SKY
On July 14, the troops of El Salvador, under the pretext of protecting their citizens, crossed the border with Honduras and by the evening of the next day advanced eight kilometers, capturing, in particular, the administrative center of the Nuevo department, the city of Octotepec, where a military governor was appointed.
The Salvadoran army, relatively well equipped and trained, numbered 11 thousand people in its ranks, while Honduras could put up no more than 6 thousand fighters armed with small arms of the 20-30s model. But Honduras had an undeniable superiority in aviation. True, both sides had only American propeller-driven aircraft with piston engines of the Second World War - Mustangs, Corsairs, Trojans, as well as converted Douglas bombers.
But in Honduras, aviation equipment was kept in exemplary order, and there was also a fully staffed flight crew trained by American instructors. El Salvador, of his 37 dilapidated aircraft, managed to lift only half into the sky, and even those with great difficulty managed to find pilots. The El Salvador air force was in such a deplorable state that, for example, bomber crews had to manually drop bombs through a porthole or an open door. Nevertheless, the blue cloudless sky over Central America became a silent witness to the last air battles on the planet involving piston fighters.
Soon, Honduran aircraft won complete air supremacy, although its appearance over enemy positions had, rather, a purely psychological effect. The hero of the war was a Honduran major, who damaged three enemy aircraft, which, however, managed to reach their airfields. Tanks and artillery also took part in the battles on both sides.
The Permanent Council of the OAS - Organization of American States took up the settlement of the armed conflict.
They say that when US President R. Nixon was informed about the beginning of the "football war", he did not believe, believing that he was being played. However, having convinced himself of the seriousness of what was happening, he gave the order to put pressure on the governments of both states through the diplomatic line. But that didn't help either! The situation got out of hand. Football passions gave rise to a revelry of an unprecedented element that could not be appeased by any arguments of reason! Then Nixon instructed his intelligence services to urgently cut off all channels for the supply of fuel and spare parts for military equipment of the conflicting parties. It was only when tanks with empty tanks froze in their positions in the rainforest, and piston fighters and bombers froze on airfields, that the energy of this amazing conflict began to decline.
Only in early August, El Salvador began to withdraw its troops from the occupied territories. But separate armed skirmishes on the border continued until the spring of 1972. According to official figures alone, the "football war" claimed the lives of more than three thousand people, another six thousand were injured. Up to 130,000 Salvadorans were forced to flee Honduras. The economies of both countries suffered catastrophic losses. Cultural and other ties were severed for a long time.
In terms of the area of banana plantations, the country firmly occupied the first place among all the states of Central America.
The national team of El Salvador still won the right to play at the World Cup, where it ended up in the same group with the teams of Mexico, Belgium and the Soviet Union. Salvadorans lost to everyone dry, including the USSR national team with a score of 2:0, and, having taken the last place in their group, they went home. The question is: what are you fighting for?