Callejas Romero, Rafael Leonardo, 1943–2020, Honduran political leader, president of Honduras (1990–94). A member of the conservative National party, he served in various government and party positions, including as Honduras's director of economic planning and minister of agriculture and natural resources. After running unsuccessfully for president in 1981 and 1985, Callejas Romero was elected to the post in 1989. Faced with an economic crisis, he cut public spending but also encouraged private sector development, and the country saw economic growth for several years. In 1990 he ordered the expulsion of the Nicaraguan counterrevolutionary military forces (contras) from Honduras. Economic hardships late in his term led to a Liberal party victory in the 1993 elections. Callejas Romero later was president of the Honduran soccer federation (2002–15), and in 2016 he pleaded guilty to accepting bribes in scandal involving many North and South American soccer executives and sports marketers.
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