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On July 19, 1969, Honduras and El Salvador fired their last shots after a few days' war that resulted in between 3,000 and 6,000 deaths. All of this is under the auspices of the Organization of American States (OAS), based in Washington. As a symbol, the last game between the two nations took place in Washington, at the end of May 2015, a little less than a month ago.A few months before, relations are complicated between the two neighboring countries, allied to the United States. While Honduras and El Salvador have much in common (the same language, the same mixed populations, the same culture in fact), demographic conditions differ. Salvador is the smallest country in Central America with only 23,000 km² and 4 million inhabitants. The Honduranneighbor has 3 million inhabitants for an area of 120,000 km². For lack of space, the Salvadoran poor peasants have been migrating for several decades to Honduras, where land is to be taken. In the end, in June 1969, there were 300,000 of them to exploit Honduran land (10% of the population), sometimes without title. General Arellano, who is in power in Honduras, accuses Salvadorans of "colonizing" his country. Basically, "immigrants come to poke our work! You know the song. Especially since Salvador, then under the control of the "14 families" of the industrial and agricultural bourgeoisie, is much more prosperous than Honduras, where the motto is that "even the rich are poor".Xenophobia, Evictions and World CupThe Honduran press follows General Arellano and falls into xenophobia. In 1967, small Salvadorian troops entered Honduran territory to protest against "anti-Salvadoran racism". The United States is already intervening to prevent this from going into confrontations. In 1968, land titles were no longer issued to El Salvadorans, and Honduras began its wave of evictions. Hundreds of families are being hunted. These expulsions were increasingly violent and increasingly regular in 1969. Arellano on the Honduran side and Fidel Sánchez Hernandez on the Salvadoran side were driven to war by their high-ranking soldiers.Arrives on June 8th. The national team of Honduras receives that of Salvador in Tegucigalpa. The stakes are enormous as this is the CONCACAF qualifying semi-final for the World Cup in Mexico. The day before, 500 Salvadoran families were still hunted out of Honduras. The day before, Honduran supporters organize a small concert of horns and firecrackers in front of the hotel of Salvadoran players. Result, 1-0 for Honduras in the 90th minute. This is too much for Amelia Bolanios, an 18-year-old Salvadoran. She suicide by shooting herself in the heart. The next day, the daily newspaper El Nacional writes that "the girl could not bear that the country be kneeled". A week later, on June 15, the return match promises to be hot. The roles are reversed. This time, it is the Salvadorans who prevent the Honduras team from closing their eyes. They even add a small homemade bomb in their hotel, which fortunately will not explode. Result, 3-0 for El Salvador. Drama, still: two Hondurans die in fights at the border to return to the country.
Match Details:
Friendly Match : Honduras vs Salvador
27 May, Saturday
, at 23:00 GMT
