National News

Honduras is adopting artificial intelligence in industry but remains behind regional peers due to gaps in infrastructure and advanced skills, with companies using AI mainly for automation of physical tasks rather than complex model development.

Honduras recorded at least 193 femicides in the first nine months of 2026, a crisis that women's rights defender Honorina Rodríguez attributes partly to inadequate police investigation capacity and calls for stronger institutional funding to prevent and prosecute gender violence.

In a video recorded before his murder, Dereck McNeil, a key witness in the four-year-old disappearance of Angie Peña, identified five Atic criminal investigators and alleged they attempted to manipulate the investigation.

Military skydiver Ever David Maldonado, injured during Honduras's September 2025 independence-day celebration, is taking assisted steps with braces nearly a year after suffering spinal fractures that required surgery and rehabilitation in Houston.

ENEE will cut power on September 10 for maintenance work in Choloma (Cortés), Tela (Atlántida), multiple municipalities in Copán, and Naranjito and Santa Rosa (Santa Bárbara), with outages lasting four to six hours in each area.

The Public Ministry's electoral crimes unit is gathering evidence at the headquarters of the Liberal Party and Libre regarding complaints of voting irregularities during the March 9, 2025 internal party elections, with no formal charges filed yet.

Honduras banana exports remain stagnant at around $20 million as fertilizer costs surge 300%, prompting many farmers to sell their land and exit the sector, industry leaders warn.

Five small political parties—Anticorrupción, ORDEN, Liberación Democrática de Honduras, Alianza Patriótica, and Vamos Honduras—petitioned Congress's Electoral Affairs Commission to restore their ability to compete in elections and gain representation on vote-counting boards.

ENEE's 400-megawatt diesel-lease contract, signed under former management, requires the state utility to buy fuel at over $100 per barrel, driving generation costs above 45 cents per kilowatt-hour and forcing rolling blackouts that a partial rate freeze cannot offset.

President Nasry Asfura appealed to physicians not to suspend patient care amid ongoing protests over unpaid salaries, stating the government has paid over 73% of agreed compensation as of July 31 and announced 46 new specialist positions.

Honduras is separating ENEE's generation, transmission, and distribution into distinct state-owned companies and creating an independent system and market operator, mirroring reforms other Central American nations completed 20–25 years ago.

A prolonged drought in Honduras's Dry Corridor has left more than 68,000 families facing food insecurity due to crop failures and loss of agricultural income, with COPECO warning the number could rise if dry conditions persist.

Congress's administrative office archived a citizen petition seeking to impeach members of Congress, ruling it failed to gather the required minimum number of signatures.

Honduras launched a temporary-work recruitment program to send 3,000 young Hondurans to Huelva, Spain for seasonal citrus and fruit harvest jobs, with a pre-recruitment tour planned across 17 municipalities starting this week.

Honduras's football federation dismissed coach Orlando López weeks after the U-20 team failed to qualify for the World Cup and Los Angeles Olympics, as the federation pursues a unified coaching philosophy across all national team levels.

Honduras and the UN World Food Programme agreed on coordinated action to address El Niño-driven drought in 103 municipalities under red alert, including cash transfers, school feeding expansion for over one million children, and direct support to smallholder farmers.

Congresswoman Iroshka Elvir (Liberal Party) has requested the government reveal who hired and financed Argentine consultant Fernando Cerimedo during the 2025 election and his ties to then-candidate Nasry Asfura, citing Cerimedo's ongoing investigations in Bolivia for alleged drug trafficking and money laundering.

Honduras's new Energy Justice Law freezes electricity rates for six months, but the Electricity Regulatory Commission warns that bills can still increase if household consumption rises or if commercial charges apply.

With TPS cancellation expected to send 55,000 Hondurans home, civil-society organizations are calling on the government to declare a migration emergency to ensure safe, dignified return and direct resources to municipalities and returnees.

Security Minister Gerzon Velásquez signed a $2 million contract with Canadian firm Forensic Technology Inc. to equip the National Police's investigative division with an Integrated Ballistic Identification System (IBIS) to strengthen criminal investigation capabilities.

The national electricity utility will deploy 148 maintenance crews across Honduras to reduce power outages through tree trimming, line inspection, and meter work, with plans for a second contract covering 200 additional crews and cranes.

Following passage of the Energy Justice Law, approximately 10 companies are planning new investments in Honduras, including a $400 million light manufacturing project in Choloma, with officials citing energy-sector reforms as a key enabler for business confidence.

Honduras's electric-sector overhaul, which restructures ENEE and addresses transmission infrastructure and technical losses, will take at least two years to meaningfully reduce blackouts while the government executes infrastructure investments and tackles the utility's 120-billion-lempira debt.

Escalating international crude prices and Middle East tensions risk pushing up fuel costs and inflation in Honduras, squeezing household budgets and business operating costs across the import-dependent economy.

Tropical Wave 38 is forecast to reach Honduras on Wednesday, potentially ending a recent dry spell and bringing relief to a country facing drought conditions that have stressed water availability and crops.

Honduras faces a housing deficit of 1.57 million units, according to UNAH, with roughly 45,000 units added to the gap each year as high costs and limited financing block most families from homeownership.

Congress is examining a proposal to strip political parties of the secretary and scrutineer positions at Honduras's roughly 18,000 polling stations, replacing partisan appointees with randomly selected citizens to reduce conflicts of interest during vote tallying.

Honduras's National Congress and the World Food Programme finalized a technical cooperation agreement to address severe drought affecting over 100 municipalities, targeting immediate food aid and longer-term irrigation and agricultural infrastructure.

Congress will include a runoff in electoral reforms only if lawmakers secure a supermajority of 86 votes; the electoral commission chair said the proposal will be unified with other ballot measures for a vote expected in October.

Honduras's state power utility ENEE scheduled maintenance outages on September 9 across multiple regions including Cortés, Santa Bárbara, Copán, Francisco Morazán, Valle, Atlántida, and Olancho, with specific times and neighborhoods listed for each area.