Liberal Reform (Honduras)

[2] This series of constitutional, economic and social reforms would not be completed until 1883, but the effects and progress of these would continue for the rest of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

President Soto and Ramón Rosa, the Secretary General of the Government at the time, were the main ideologues of the Liberal Reform in Honduras.

Honduras separated from the Central American federation in 1839 and until the mid-19th century the country did not see many social changes beyond some projects such as the construction of schools initiated by General Trinidad Cabañas.

This was also due to the political situation of the world when the European powers were going through the second industrial revolution and other non-Western nations such as Japan began to modernize in the so-called Meiji Restoration.

Honduras experienced an improvement in its infrastructure because the country still had the same appearance it had since the beginning of the century, therefore the task of constructing new administrative buildings, schools, hospitals, railroads, train stations, bridges was undertaken, and above all the city was renovated to give it a new aesthetic style.

Until the 1880s, Honduras did not have any significant modern infrastructure, either governmental, medical or educational, all it had were old buildings from previous centuries built by the Spanish colonial authorities.

The people hired to provide advice to the Military School were Engineer Lieutenant Morgado y Calvo, Francisco Cañizales Moyano and Juan Guillén Ruiz.

In terms of culture, the European influence in Honduras promoted a new literary wave in the country, and there also began to be more interest in theater and opera.