Browse Honduras Daily Stories

A new law creating a centralized registry of beneficial owners won backing from legal experts as a tool to combat money laundering and improve Honduras's standing with the international Financial Action Task Force, though analysts warn of risks if sensitive information falls into the wrong hands or is misused for political purposes.

Congress began first-round debate on a 18-article bill to reorganize and strengthen Honduras's power system, which still requires two more votes before final passage.

Congress opened a first reading of an 18-article bill to reorganize Honduras's electrical system, with stated aims to lower costs, improve service, reduce blackouts, and keep state utility ENEE in public hands.

Internal tensions in Honduras's Liberal Party have intensified as its executive council president and rival factions clash over financial transparency and accountability for funds spent in the 2025 elections.

Congress unanimously approved the Transparency and Centralized Beneficial-Owner Registry Law, which aims to identify final beneficiaries of legal entities and structures to combat money laundering, terrorism financing, corruption, and organized crime.

A Honduran court ordered the Public Prosecutor's Office to return more than 60 assets to the retail company Mangys Store after the company's legal representatives proved the goods were lawfully obtained, demonstrating no connection to money laundering or other crimes.

Honduras's Congress unanimously passed a law requiring businesses to disclose their true beneficial owners in a new centralized registry, aiming to combat money laundering, corruption, and terrorist financing.

An analysis of Honduras's migrant reintegration program found 581 beneficiaries and over L1.5 million (about $60,000) in payments listed in detailed records but not reflected in official summaries, raising questions about accountability in the L104.3 million fund distributed since January 2025.

Members of the Libre party blocked an entrance to Congress and staged protests against proposed energy reforms set for first debate, with the party's congressional leader Ronald Panchame saying they oppose privatization of the state utility ENEE.

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.

John Milton García Flores, a member of Congress from the Libre party, will have half his monthly salary deducted after video showed him throwing a water bottle toward the National Congress leadership.

Lawmakers approved three measures to maintain and expand broadband internet in public spaces, strengthen the Alerta-HN emergency-alert system, and extend digital-inclusion services aimed at bridging Honduras's technology gap.

Congress's Mining Commission will launch technical working groups to draft amendments to Honduras's mining law, aiming to simplify licensing procedures for small-scale artisanal miners while addressing environmental protection and community benefit.

A Congressional energy commission is drafting reforms to modernize the state-owned power utility ENEE through internal reorganization of transmission, distribution, and billing operations, while ruling out privatization and pledging to protect worker job security.

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.

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.

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.

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.