Editing Gustavo Álvarez Martínez (section)

===Defenestration===
On March 31, 1984, General Álvarez Martínez was separated from the command of the Honduran Armed Forces by a military coup, arrested and sent to San Pedro Sula, and then to San José, Costa Rica. Shortly after, several colonels from the circle closest to Álvarez were also arrested. General Walter López Reyes, an aviation colonel of the Honduran Air Force, and nephew of former president Oswaldo López Arellano, was appointed in his place.  Under General Walter López Reyes, the brute force employed was replaced by more sophisticated methods, resulting in growing national political opposition.

Former General Álvarez Martínez left with his family for Miami, United States, where he was received by US authorities, who provided him with the required lodging. He lived there for four years, until April 9, 1988, on the one hand, because of a proposal from Washington to return as an investigative advisor to law enforcement agencies, since in Central America, especially in Honduras, The issue of drug trafficking was beginning to intensify and given the great influence that Álvarez had in Central America, it was of vital importance for the United States to have an ally that would help them cut those networks. In addition, things were at peace with the other Central American states and having made democratic changes, the former General made reports on his efforts as commander of the Honduran Armed Forces during those four years of his stay. He had totally changed his life, since he had entered the Church of the Nazarene, which was dissatisfied with his previous life. He said that he would feel better in his country, which he loved, and in Washington his quality of life was no better.