[1] 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, Ambassador of Honduras to France, and president of the Central Executive Council (CCE) of the Liberal Party, among other important positions.

Reina was arrested several times for his political activities in opposition to the military governments during his younger years.

He was accompanied by his vice presidential candidate: retired General Walter López, Juan de la Cruz Avelar and Guadalupe Jerezano Mejía.

In his first presidential speech Reina launched his moral revolution: " 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.

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, President of the Republic of China.