In October 1955, after the general strike in 1954, young military reformists staged a coup that installed a provisional junta. Capital punishment was abolished in 1956, though the last person to be executed was in 1940 (The current president Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo has tried to bring it back). There were constituent assembly elections in 1957 which appointed Ramón Villeda as President, and itself becoming a national Congress with a 6-year term. The PLH ruled during 1957–63. The military began to become a professional institution independent of politics, with the newly created military academy graduating its first class in 1960. In October 1963, conservative military officers preempted constitutional elections and deposed Villeda in a bloody coup. These officers exiled PLH members and governed under General Oswaldo López until 1970.
In July 1969, Honduras was invaded by El Salvador in the short Soccer War. Tensions in the aftermath of the conflict remain.
A civilian president for the PNH, Ramón Ernesto Cruz, took power briefly in 1970 until, in December 1972, Oswaldo López staged another coup. This time round, he adopted more progressive policies, including land reform.
López's successors continued armed forces modernization programs, building army and security forces, and concentrating on Honduran air force superiority over its neighbors. During the governments of General Juan Alberto Melgar (1975–78) and General Policarpo Paz (1978–82), Honduras built most of its physical infrastructure and electricity and terrestrial telecommunications systems, both of which are state monopolies. The country experienced economic growth during this period, with greater international demand for its products and the increased availability of foreign commercial capital.

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