Oswaldo | Lopez Arellano | Honduran leader, 89

Honduran Gen. Oswaldo Lopez Arellano, 89, who led two military coups and served as president for more than a decade, died Sunday of prostate cancer in Tegucigalpa.

With armed forces' backing, then-Col. Lopez Arellano ousted President Ramon Villeda Morales in 1963 and two years later held a constitutional assembly that formalized his position as president of Honduras, then a banana-producing country under the sway of Washington.

He remained in power until 1971, when he backed elections won by Ramon Ernesto Cruz of the National Party. As head of Honduras' armed forces in 1972, he toppled Cruz in another military coup. He was ousted by the armed forces in 1975 after dissident officers accused him of receiving a $2.5 million bribe that they said the U.S. banana company United Brands offered to reduce a banana export tax.

His years in power coincided with a short-lived war with El Salvador in 1969 known as the "Soccer War." Thousands died in the bloody conflict, which broke out after teams from the two nations played World Cup qualifying matches that saw opposing supporters beaten or killed. - AP