The main brokers in political power today are the military, the US embassy and the United Fruit Company, the biggest banana producers in Honduras.
The military held power intermittently from 1956 until 1981, when, following pressure from US President Jimmy Carter, it allowed a return to multiparty democratic civilian rule. Since then, the National and Liberal parties have alternated in power, although there are few real ideological differences between them. Presidents have tended to be weak because they can serve only one four-year term.
During the 1980s, US President Ronald Reagan effectively converted the country into a US "aircraft carrier" to counter a perceived communist threat from El Salvador and Nicaragua. The end of hostilities in these countries has meant a reduction in US aid to Honduras. The consequent shortage of funds for development leaves the new president with difficult problems. Unemployment, agrarian reform and improving the position of Honduras's landless rural poor are the main issues.
