Honduras Politics News

ENEE manager Guillermo Peña Panting said a bill to reform Honduras's electricity system is in advanced legislative stages and aims to attract private investment in generation, transmission, and distribution to address chronic blackouts and improve service reliability.

Congress approved a temporary two-month deadline extension and suspended collection efforts against 2025 election candidates who failed to file required financial reports, with penalties waived if they comply by the new deadline.

Congress began debate on sweeping reforms to Honduras's electric utility ENEE, aiming to reshape its corporate structure and finances to address the state company's L50 million daily fiscal deficit before lawmakers begin mid-year recess.

The Liberal Party declared support for reforming the national electricity utility ENEE but demanded that strategic state assets, including the El Cajón hydroelectric dam, be protected from any privatization as part of the overhaul.

Analysts debated a new law designed to combat illegal land seizures in agribusiness and other key sectors, with supporters arguing it will attract investment by ensuring property rights, while raising questions about its impact on peasant land claims.

The Libre party's congressional bloc has proposed a popular consultation to let Hondurans decide the future direction of ENEE, the state electrical utility.

A congressman has proposed replacing unanimity with simple majority voting and reducing quorum requirements at Honduras's National Electoral Council and Electoral Court to break deadlocks, amid current staffing vacancies and absences that have raised concerns about institutional stability.

The president of Honduras's Supreme Court says proposed reforms to combat femicide, including specialized courts with women judges, have judicial support but require state budget allocation that has not yet been secured.

Congress passed first reading of a transparency bill requiring companies and trusts to disclose their beneficial owners, aiming to meet international anti-money-laundering standards and keep Honduras off the Financial Action Task Force's gray list.

The European Union's ambassador to Honduras endorsed proposed reforms to the country's electric industry law, saying the model mirrors European approaches and would improve service while lowering tariffs through renewable-energy incentives.

Congress and the Oabi (seized-property office) signed an agreement to establish Congress's first regional office in San Pedro Sula, where lawmakers representing the north and Atlantic coast can meet constituents, with a second property in Tegucigalpa for a regional legislative forum.

The World Bank, IDB, CAF, and BCIE have endorsed the government's plan to split the state electricity company into three entities for generation, transmission, and distribution, but critics warn it masks privatization and demand broader public consultation.

Honduras's Supreme Court unveiled a digital system allowing citizens at home and abroad to request, pay for, and download criminal-history certificates and authenticated documents in about ten minutes.

Roberto Contreras, president of the Liberal Party's executive council and mayor of San Pedro Sula, asked the Public Ministry to investigate the handling of 42 million lempiras the party borrowed and spent during the 2025 presidential campaign.

A congressional committee approved a bill that would impose life sentences and other severe penalties for killing or attempting to kill police, soldiers, judges, and other security and justice officials in connection with their duties, with the measure now headed to a floor vote.

Congress President Tomás Zambrano and the public-information authority (IAIP) signed an agreement Monday to oversee an upgrade to the legislature's electronic voting system, which officials say will strengthen transparency and rebuild credibility after Honduras's Congress ranked last in Latin American legislative evaluations.

Former energy official Guillermo Peña Panting warns that Honduras faces potential loss in international arbitrations filed by electricity-sector investors at the ICSID, citing the current administration's reforms to contracts signed under prior legal frameworks.

About 300 employees of Honduras's National Emergency System 911—ambulance staff, paramedics, and dispatchers—say they have not been paid for several months, with Human Resources offering no explanation for the delays that began when the current government took office.

Finance Minister Emilio Hércules clarified that a proposed law on the state-owned electricity utility ENEE would keep 100% of the three linked companies under government ownership, with any decisions requiring Congressional approval.

A judge issued a provisional dismissal for Steve Fajardo, identified as the son-in-law of Roberto Contreras.

The Supreme Court of Justice submitted a draft law to Congress to reestablish the Judicial Council, a body dissolved a decade ago after constitutional challenges, as part of efforts to reorganize the judiciary's administration and discipline.

Jorge Moreira da Silva, the UN's deputy secretary-general and executive director of UNOPS, said the agency will push for transparent, competitive procurement processes in Honduras while expanding collaboration on infrastructure, renewable energy, and climate resilience.

The European Union is backing Honduras with a €6 million non-repayable grant aimed at reducing investment risk, attracting private capital, and integrating the country into its Global Gateway infrastructure strategy, EU ambassador Gonzalo Fournier Conde said.

The head of Honduras's electoral commission has proposed eliminating the unanimity requirement for decisions by the electoral council and electoral court, replacing it with simple-majority voting to speed up electoral processes, though opposition parties worry it could weaken consensus-building.

Hugo Maldonado, president of Honduras's human rights committee CODEH, is calling on a Congressional commission to approve a decree imposing life sentences for anyone who kills prosecutors, police officers, judges, journalists, or human rights defenders.

Honduras's engineering college says a draft reform to the national electricity law could threaten sector stability by exempting state-owned subsidiaries from traditional asset controls and lacks binding mechanisms to address endemic technical and non-technical losses.

The European Investment Bank has offered up to 15 billion lempiras (roughly $600 million) to finance Honduras's transmission networks and renewable energy, EU Ambassador Gonzalo Fournier announced at a meeting with Congress leaders.

A Congressional committee held a second consultation with civil-rights organizations and government agencies on proposed reforms to strengthen prevention, early detection, and prosecution of sexual abuse against children and adolescents in Honduras.

The opposition LIBRE party faction says the government's draft energy reform is privatization disguised as modernization and is calling for a popular referendum, arguing that Hondurans—not lawmakers or private interests—should decide the future of the state-owned utility ENEE.

Milton Puerto, president of Congress's Energy Commission, says private companies will be barred from using assets of the state electricity utility ENEE as collateral when seeking investment loans.