A four-day
war fought between
El Salvador and
Honduras June 14-18,
1969 incited by riots during a playoff match of the
World Cup.
Played in San Salvador, the match was the last straw in a
decade of steadily degenerating relations between the two nations. Widespread
economic decay in El Salvador forces hundreds of Salvadorans to emigrate to Honduras to find work. Hondurans became enraged at the loss of their jobs to
immigrants; the Salvadorans became likewise enraged when their
press reported stories of the mistreatment of said immigrants.
Against this backdrop of
hostility, when the Hondurans scored the first
goal, the crowd rushed onto the field and began to
pummel members of the Honduran team. Honduras answered by bombing all of El Salvador's
airports. Much fighting ensued--often hand-to-hand--in the streets of border regions. After about 100 hours of fighting, the
Organization of American States (
OAS) forced a
peace settlement. In the end 3000 people were
killed, 6000 wounded, and about 50 million dollars in
damage caused to both sides.