Honduras Politics News

Honduras's 41 Liberal Congress members have fractured over electricity-sector changes, with 32 negotiating a counteroffer to the government proposal while nine aligned with Salvador Nasralla maintain their opposition, fracturing what had been unified party resistance.

Lawmakers are intensifying negotiations to break a months-long deadlock over reforms to Honduras's electric power system, with legislators aiming to bring the bill to a final vote this week after incorporating opposition demands to protect state assets and reduce consumer costs.

Roberto Contreras, president of the Liberal Party's executive council, called rival Salvador Nasralla a "factory of failures" who will never be president and warned that internal divisions could keep the party out of power for 20 years.

Members of the governing Nationalist Party occupied the municipal meat-processing company Promdeca in Tegucigalpa on August 24, demanding employment for party loyalists and calling for the removal of staff affiliated with the previous Libre administration.

Former Planning Minister Ricardo Salgado's ministry spent L22.9 million (about $920,000) on vehicle rentals over three years, with spending surging to L16.1 million in the 2025 election year—a roughly five-fold increase from 2024.

A congressman from the Liberal Party proposed designating the football field in La Isla neighborhood, La Ceiba, as a cultural heritage site to recognize its historical significance to the community.

Congress received a comprehensive bill on August 24 designed to prevent child sexual abuse, streamline reporting, and coordinate institutional response across Honduras, where officials report an average of 26 sexual assaults daily, 75% involving minors.

The National Congress will debate bills on expanded consular services for Hondurans in the US, free hypertension medications, climate-change adaptation, and CPR training in schools, along with infrastructure projects and a pending electricity-sector reform vote.

Congress spending jumped in May to L11.4 million on advertising and L20.6 million on Mother's Day gift baskets distributed across all 18 departments, amid criticism from Criterio.hn over the lack of detail on recipients and allocation criteria.

Honduras's criminal investigation agency (ATIC) has given Libre party coordinator Manuel Zelaya 48 hours to provide details on the party's national structure, reactivating a 2018 complaint Zelaya filed against military authorities after FUSINA labeled Libre-affiliated groups as terrorist cells.

The initial hearing in the Pandora II case against former president Juan Orlando Hernández resumes on Monday, Aug. 24, as his defense challenges prosecution evidence and seeks to overturn fraud charges on grounds that other co-defendants were dismissed.

Municipal police and public-order officials removed vendors from El Carrizal bridges in Tegucigalpa after complaints that street stalls were obstructing pedestrian and vehicle traffic; vendors were relocated to other permitted spaces.

Congress President Tomás Zambrano announced that the Electoral Affairs Commission will present reforms next week to strengthen the National Electoral Council (CNE), requiring councillors to attend all plenary sessions and improving result transmission to report outcomes on election day.

Luis Redondo's legal team filed a motion to block the prosecution's expert witness from testifying about videos of the Congressional session that approved Decree 58-2025, arguing the judge should not have allowed the prosecution to correct its expert-designation request.

Garífuna organizations denounced the Honduran judiciary's offer of dialogue on territorial disputes already ruled on by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, citing government non-compliance with court orders and a hate campaign, while five land-rights defenders from San Juan remain without a judge to hear their case.

Congress passed a reform to the Economic Reactivation Law establishing a temporary settlement mechanism to resolve pending claims by dismissed Family Guides against the state, allowing negotiated payment agreements.

Garífuna community leaders filed a formal complaint with Honduras's Public Prosecutor against journalist Amílcar Ulises Aguirre Ramírez for racist and discriminatory remarks against the Garífuna people, alleging a pattern of hate speech and warning of broader media-driven campaigns targeting indigenous identity.

Libre's Rixi Moncada is urging Honduras's Public Ministry to investigate Argentine consultant Fernando Cerimedo, a former Nasry Asfura advisor, over audio recordings allegedly revealing a fraud scheme in the 2025 elections.

Honduras saw 235 alerts of attacks on journalists, communicators, and human rights defenders during 2024–2025, with a 19.6% spike in 2025 during the electoral period; C-Libre documents 11 murders, an 86.6% impunity rate, and state actors responsible for over half of all incidents.

The Public Ministry has reactivated a complaint filed by former President Manuel Zelaya against two retired military officers who in 2018 labeled the so-called Comandos Insurreccionales de Libre as terrorist organizations during the political crisis that followed the 2017 elections.

Congress approved a temporary reform allowing former employees of certain government programs to seek settlements with the state for outstanding wage claims, with payments spread over up to 18 months if budgets permit.

Congress President Tomás Zambrano said Honduras faces evaluation by the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and risks being added to a gray list if it fails to strengthen anti-money-laundering laws, which could limit access to international financing and cooperation.

Honduras's Judiciary, along with civil-society groups, prosecutors, and police, has drafted reforms to the 1997 domestic violence law to address gaps, add protections for victims including recognition of vicarious and digital violence, and harmonize penalties for perpetrators.

Bay Islands officials held a council meeting to coordinate child protection across institutions, establishing three working groups (protection, health, education) and planning to expand the SENAF office from one employee to a regional headquarters with a budget increase to 10 million lempiras.

The retired general's lawyers filed an appeal on August 20 challenging the prosecutor's case, arguing it lacks precise charges and fails to clearly explain what crimes he is accused of or what evidence connects him to the allegations.

Garífuna leaders in Honduras allege a systematic plan to dispossess their territories and erase their cultural heritage, and say they will take their case to international courts, citing non-compliance with prior Inter-American Court of Human Rights rulings.

Former General Roosevelt Hernández's lawyers asked the court to move his initial hearing, scheduled for September 1, to the Supreme Court building, citing the large number of parties, victims, and media expected to attend.

Luis Javier Santos, a former UFERCO prosecutor, says Honduras's judiciary has long protected impunity by weakening, shelving, or stalling corruption cases — including Hermes, Arca Abierta, and a deputy-fund scheme — before they reach conviction.

Congress authorized Tegucigalpa's city government to issue $500 million in municipal bonds to restructure inherited debt, freeing about 60 million lempiras per month for water infrastructure and drought relief in the capital.

Fernando Cerimedo, an Argentine political consultant who advised President Asfura in Honduras and campaigns across Latin America's right, was arrested in Bolivia on suspicion of orchestrating an attack on his pregnant partner, Nadia Beller, after prosecutors found incriminating text messages on his phone.