Carlos Roberto Reina Idiáquez (March 13, 1926 – August 19, 2003) was a Honduran politician, lawyer and diplomat who served as the 32nd

President of Honduras The president of Honduras (), officially known as the President of the Republic of Honduras (), is the head of state and head of government of Honduras, and the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. According to the 1982 Constitution of H ...

from January 27, 1994 to January 27, 1998. He was a member of the Honduran

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

Background

He was born in the city of Comayagüela,

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

. His wife, Bessie Watson, was an American citizen with whom he had two daughters. He completed university studies in the

National Autonomous University of Honduras National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

where he earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in Juridical and

Social Sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

. Later, Reina continued his postgraduate studies in the and cities of London and Paris.

Political career

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 The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, Ambassador of

to France, and president of the Central Executive Council (CCE) of the

, among other important positions. Reina was arrested several times for his political activities in opposition to the military governments during his younger years. The first time was in 1944 for protesting against dictator Tiburcio Carías. Later in the 1960s he was sent to prison twice by

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Oswaldo López, who had taken over the Honduran government through the use of military force. This led Reina to become a fierce defender of

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

throughout the rest of his life. In 1979, he was nominated president of the

Inter-American Court of Human Rights The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (I/A Court H.R.) is an international court based in San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it was formed by the American Convention on Human Rights, a human r ...

of the

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...

President of Honduras (1994-1998)

Carlos Reina became president in November 1993, with the Liberal Party of Honduras (PLH, ''Partido Liberal de Honduras''), after defeating Oswaldo Ramos, the candidate of the

National Party of Honduras The National Party of Honduras (PNH; ) is a conservative political party in Honduras founded on 27 February 1902, by Manuel Bonilla Chirinos. Historically it has been one of the two most influential parties in the country. The party's platform ...

with 56% of the vote. He was accompanied by his vice presidential candidate: retired General Walter López, Juan de la Cruz Avelar and Guadalupe Jerezano Mejía. On January 27, 1994, Reina replaced president Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero. Reina inherited a relatively 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

, the debt 'was' still higher than that it had been at the beginnings of 1990. In his first presidential speech Reina launched his

moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. ...

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

: " I pledge my word of honor before God, before the people and before history, that 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 issue of whether his plan was a success or a failure is still highly controversial. One of Carlos Roberto Reina's main objectives during his government was the reform of the

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

. 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 to the ruling elites, they believed it fomented gangs, by eliminating a source of employment and education for young men. In July 1996, Reina was awarded the Order of Brilliant Jade by

Lee Teng-hui Lee Teng-hui (; pinyin: ''Lǐ Dēnghuī''; 15 January 192330 July 2020) was a Taiwanese politician and agricultural scientist who served as the fourth president of the Republic of China, president of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan) unde ...

President of the Republic of China The president of the Republic of China, also known as the president of Taiwan, is the head of state of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan), as well as the commander-in-chief of the Republic of China Armed Forces. Republic of China (1912– ...

Post-presidency and death

Carlos Roberto Reina finished his presidency on 27 January 1998. Later, in October 1998, Reina began his period as president of the

Central American Parliament The Central American Parliament (), also known as PARLACEN, is the political institution and parliamentary body of the Central American Integration System (SICA). Its headquarters are in Guatemala City. History The PARLACEN's origins date b ...

(Parlacén), where he remained until 28 October 1999. Finally on 19 August 2003, Carlos Roberto Reina killed himself with a gunshot at the age of 77. His brother revealed that Reina was suffering from health issues relating to the gallbladder and pancreas.

References

External links