Honduran historiography lags far behind advances made for other countries in Central America. The distance is even wider in political history and narrative. This book’s focus on what was only the second orderly presidential election in the country’s history during the last century could have contributed to narrowing the gap because its author does recognize 1932’s pivotal role in the eventual rise of General Tiburcio Carias Andino’s dictatorship in the latter 1930s and its consolidation until 1948. Sadly, the book suffers a number of problems that outweigh its strengths.
Contreras’s argument is simple. The National Party, which controlled the majority of municipalities charged with counting the 1932 vote, made sure that its candidate, General Carias, defeated the Liberal Party candidate—and Carias’s nemesis since the early 1920s—Angel Zuñiga. Within a month, the victor found himself militarily supporting the presidency that oversaw the elections as it faced insurrection by Liberals who rejected...
