National News

The head of Honduras's electricity regulator says delays in the Liberal Party's response to proposed power-sector reforms risk prolonging electricity supply problems and preventing competitive bidding processes needed to lower rates.

Honduras's banking sector and the government announced a new housing finance program targeting families earning less than two minimum wages, combining Banhprovi funds with private bank credit to expand access to affordable homes.

More than 312,000 vehicle owners have signed up for payment plans under a two-month amnesty that waives fines and interest on registration arrears through August 25, allowing them to catch up on 2025 or earlier vehicle taxes.

The Liberal Party congressional bloc will present next week an alternative proposal to reform Honduras's electric-industry law, conditioning their support on incorporating their technical observations drawn from successful regional models in Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica.

Ookla's Speedtest data for January–June 2026 ranked Cable Color the fastest fixed broadband network in Honduras for the third consecutive year, and the company also leads in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica.

The National Congress is evaluating a proposal to regulate—not ban—smartphone use in schools, allowing phones only for teacher-directed educational purposes, after incidents of students recording teachers without consent and a documented assault case in Yoro.

Honduras recorded 437 social conflicts in the first half of 2026—over two collective actions per day across 97 municipalities—with education, labor, and health sectors leading protests; 88.6% of citizen demands remain unaddressed by authorities.

Honduras's medical association is calling on the Health Ministry to publicly detail how emergency-relief funds have been spent, including breakdowns of contracts, trust funds (fideicomisos), patient-selection criteria, and progress on reducing the surgical backlog.

Honduras's national university economic institute forecasts the lempira will weaken to 27.15 per dollar by end-2026 and 27.98 per dollar by end-2027, a slower pace than 2025's 4.16% decline, while international reserves remain strong at 11.45 billion dollars.

Honduras's Energy Ministry says 378,920 homes — about 15% of the country — lack electricity, with rural areas most affected and infrastructure investment needed to close the gap.

Lawmakers are proposing to reduce rental rates on idle state-seized agricultural land from 500 lempiras (about $20) per manzana to 200 lempiras (about $8) per manzana, aiming to ease costs for farming cooperatives and discourage illegal land occupations in rural areas.

Congressman Carlos Umaña, a physician, will introduce a motion to make vaccinations mandatory in Honduras, citing falling immunization rates below 70% and rising cases of whooping cough, measles, and dengue.

A public-opinion poll finds that 79.3% of Hondurans continue to demand installation of an international anti-corruption commission (CICIH), even after the government rejected the mechanism, citing deep distrust of domestic courts, police, and security institutions.

More than 40 peasant, Indigenous, and popular organizations filed a citizen-initiated impeachment complaint against 16 lawmakers, including Congress President Tomás Zambrano, over Decree 107-2026, an agro-industrial law they say violates land rights and enables evictions of rural and Indigenous communities.

Honduras's evening school enrollment fell 5,000 students over six years as insecurity and transport shortages push working-age learners toward weekend classes, which have grown 27,000 students in the same period.

A federal indictment in New York accuses Yulan Andony Archaga Carías, alias 'Porky', of running MS-13 in Honduras as a criminal enterprise that smuggled cocaine to the US, rented hitmen to drug traffickers, supplied machine guns, and ordered murders of rivals and disloyal gang members.

Former Joint Chiefs Commander Roosevelt Hernández said he will cooperate if formally cited after prosecutors filed a criminal complaint alleging attacks on press freedom through official Armed Forces publications between 2025 and 2026.

Finance Secretary Emilio Hércules announced the government will provide $120 million to strengthen ENEE's operational capacity and infrastructure, while the utility launches a bond program with a 16 billion lempira ceiling to pay accumulated supplier debts through weekly disbursements.

Congress approved reforms to elder-care law adding free annual medical checkups, home care, active-aging programs, a non-contributory pension for impoverished seniors, and tax incentives for employers hiring workers over 60.

Honduras has controlled an avian influenza outbreak in a commercial farm and is preparing technical documentation to resume poultry and egg exports to regional trading partners.

Honduras's road-transport authority warned citizens of a fraud scheme in which criminals send text messages impersonating the DNVT with fake traffic fines and links designed to steal personal information.

A Data Veritas poll finds corruption (21%), rising cost of living (19.6%), and unemployment (14.8%) are Honduras's most pressing problems, while public approval of the Asfura government remains predominantly negative.

ENEE announced planned maintenance cutoffs for July 30 affecting Copán, Francisco Morazán, Valle, and Olancho, with specific neighborhoods in the capital and municipalities in each region experiencing interruptions of 5–7 hours starting in the morning.

Olimpia rescheduled its season-opening match against Lobos UPNFM from August 1 to August 2 at 7:30 p.m. because the stadium José de la Paz Herrera was unavailable due to a Honduras TikTokers exhibition match.

Honduras's atmospheric authority warns that rainfall expected in August will fall short of levels needed to restore soil moisture for agricultural planting, particularly in vulnerable regions.

The US Department of Agriculture will provide $40 million over six years to strengthen Honduras's national school-feeding program, benefiting about 96,000 children in 2,000 public schools in remote areas of La Paz and Intibucá departments.

Honduras's prosecutor's office filed charges against Roosevelt Hernández, former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for alleged attacks on press freedom through a military digital publication's campaign against journalists between 2025 and 2026.

Former Joint Chiefs of Staff commander Roosevelt Hernández has a court date set for August 7 for a charges hearing; his attorney argues the allegations against him stem from misinterpreted statements.

Cenaos predicts mostly dry conditions across Honduras on July 30 with weak scattered showers in the eastern, northern, and northwestern regions, while southern departments like Choluteca and Valle face extreme heat reaching 40°C (104°F).

A national survey of 1,559 Hondurans found 70% dissatisfied with President Asfura's government, which scored 3.82 of 10; 48.5% named economic crisis as the top problem, while one in three households reported lacking money for food in the past three months.