One Hundred Hours: The Football War, 1969

One Hundred Hours: The Football War of 1969 is not your typical “military-during-war” crisis committee. Fought between Honduras and El Salvador from July 14 to July 18, The Football War is one of the shortest international wars in history; however, the war is the climax of much larger and longer-lasting issues between the countries.

Delegates will represent members of the Salvadoran government from Mid- to Late-1969 under President Fidel Sánchez Hernández. The crisis begins with El Salvador having to address the effects of the Honduran land-reform laws which resulted in many Salvadoran workers being expelled from Honduras. Committee will address both domestic and international topics such as the qualifying matches for the 1970 world cup in which many fights and riots had broken out; strained diplomatic ties with Honduras due to their inaction in protecting Salvadorans from violence; and American business interests interfering with Latin American governance. Delegates will have to shift from navigating a tense diplomatic setting to dealing with military operations within Honduras.

The four-day nature of the war allows the committee to explore something which often gets neglected in crisis committees: the aftermath. The war had significant impacts on Central America and as the actions of the delegates will be critical to determining the future of the region.

Chair Letter

Dear Delegates,

My name is Brian Wolfe and it is my pleasure to be serving as the Chair for One Hundred Hours: The Football War of 1969 at LAMUN XVIII. I am a senior at UCLA double majoring in Public Affairs and Economics. Originally from Truckee, CA, a small town located 15 minutes away from Lake Tahoe, I’ve since found a second home in college with MUN at UCLA. Following graduation, I hope to pursue a career in urban/transportation planning or public administration (although running for political office is not out of the question). 

My first foray into Model United Nations was during sophomore year of high school when I was placed into a crisis committee just 5 days before the conference. Despite my complete naivete, I fell in love with the Model UN culture and international affairs. I’ve since participated in more than 15 conferences and served on our club’s Executive Board for the past three years, culminating as the Secretary-General for BruinMUN, our high school conference this past fall. Outside of MUN, I am currently interning with a transportation advocacy non-profit in LA County and mentor high schoolers in South Central LA. For fun, I enjoy playing GeoGuesser, cooking (and eating) breakfast food, and making going to the gym my personality trait. 

Our committee this year will highlight one of the world's shortest wars, lasting just over three days between El Salvador and Honduras. With the entire conference lasting longer than the war itself, our committee is uniquely able to focus on the build up and aftermath of this conflict. It is my hope that you find ways to have fun amidst the tension with Honduras and gain an understanding that geopolitical conflicts extend far beyond their defined start and end dates. 

Finally, I would like to thank all of those that make this committee and conference possible including Jack, our USG; Cam, my CD; and our wonderful staffers. This conference will be my very last in MUN and I couldn’t be happier to work with such an amazing team.

I look forward to meeting all of you and witnessing your lively debate!

Best Regards,

Brian Wolfe

Chair | One Hundred Hours: The Football War | LAMUN XVIII

CD Letter

Esteemed Delegates, Colleagues, and Friends,

My name is Cameron Katz and I am the crisis director for One Hundred Hours: The Football War of 1969. I am currently in my third-year at UCLA studying Political Science and Psychology. I was raised in the Bay Area – a fact which my friends wish I would stop mentioning. In my non-academic life, I enjoy playing Legend of Zelda, rewatching Veep, trudging through A Song of Ice and Fire books, and making plans with my friends to open a combination coffee shop/bookstore.

Model UN at UCLA has been a wonderful learning experience for me. In fact, my first ever experience with MUN was staffing for the JCC at LAMUN in 2021 (Online). Now, a little over two years later, I have done it all from staffing, to competing, to chairing, to crisis directing, to being the Under-Secretary-General for Crisis Committees at BruinMUN 30 in Fall 2022. 

In regards to this committee, Brian and I were fascinated by this topic because the Football War is one of the shortest interstate wars in history. Instead of having to start our committee entrenched in armed conflict, we can take our time not only navigating the events and decisions which led up to the war, but also we can look at how this conflict affected Central America in the months following the cease-fire. I hope everyone comes with the mindset to first and foremost have a great time. For many of you, this is your last conference of the year; for some of you, it may be your final time competing in collegiate MUN. I hope we create an experience that not only is fun but is challenging and encourages you to be creative and cooperative in your solutions.

I’d like to give a very big thank you to Jack Foley, our committee’s USG. I’d also like to thank our Chair, Brian Wolfe. He has been so supportive to me both in this club and throughout the whole LAMUN process. I’d also like to thank our lovely Director-General, Hazel Stocco – our unofficial third senior staffer – for being my first friend in Model UN at UCLA and for allowing me and Brian to take over her apartment once a week to host committee meetings. Lastly and most importantly, I’d like to thank our committee’s staffers – the true lifeblood of any conference – for all their hard work in preparation for this conference.

I look forward to meeting you all soon!

Cameron Katz

Crisis Director

One Hundred Hours: The Football War | LAMUN XVIII