TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (Reuters) -- The Honduran Congress on
                  Tuesday formally stripped the army of its autonomy, clipping the wings of an
                  institution that ran the country for decades.

                  Honduras' single-chamber legislature voted 128-0 for the measure, which
                  will take effect after being published in the Official Gazette on Wednesday.

                  That would clear the way for President Carlos Flores to name a defence
                  minister, the first to be named by a civilian ruler in 41 years.

                  Armed Forces Chief Gen. Mario Hung is set to hand over command to the
                  as-yet-unnamed new minister, almost certain to be a civilian, on Wednesday.
                  Hung is due to retire in February.

                  "This is a historic step for the strengthening of civilian power," author and
                  political analyst Victor Meza told Reuters.

                  The position of defence minister currently exists, but it has no authority over
                  the command structure.

                  The Honduran armed forces operated like a state within a state, ruling the
                  country from 1957 until nominal civilian rule was established in 1982. The
                  army still held sway over much of the civilian government until 1990.

                  Army autonomy was crucial to the U.S.-backed anti-communist effort in
                  Central America during the 1980s. The military gave gave Washington a
                  base from which to train Nicaragua's anti-communist Contra rebels and
                  provide support to the army of El Salvador, then fighting a leftist insurgency.

                  Honduras borders those two countries as well as Guatemala, which also was
                  engulfed in a Cold War-era guerrilla war.

                  Despite losing authority, the army praised the pending change.

                  "This is what we prefer. We are satisfied," Col Eugenio Romero, leader of
                  the joint chiefs of staff, told reporters.

                  "Two competing powers (military and civilian) cannot exist in a country like
                  ours, where democratic changes are taking place."

                  By firmly placing the military under civilian control, Honduras hopes to put
                  an end to the periodic power struggles within the high command that have
                  previously destabilized it.

                  Honduras has yet to recover from the devastation of last year's Hurricane
                  Mitch, which killed some 9,000 people across Central America.

                  "With this reform we open a beautiful new chapter in national life,
                  strengthening civil society and establishing the military as a professional
                  organisation at the service of civil society," Rafael Pineda, president of the
                  Congress, told Reuters.

                   Copyright 1999 Reuters.