Browse Honduras Daily Stories

About 100 formal restaurants have closed in Honduras through 2026 as economic contraction cuts consumer visits and rising utility costs, water shortages, and operational expenses squeeze the sector, says the president of the Honduran Gastronomy Association.

Premium gasoline, regular gasoline, diesel, and kerosene prices increased Sept. 7, with diesel climbing L2.46 per gallon to L145.69 (about $5.80) in Tegucigalpa, while domestic cooking gas held steady under government subsidy.

Honduras's consumer protection agency activated a free hotline (115) and online reporting platform following investigations by El Heraldo Plus and La Prensa Premium that exposed clinics Nueva Med and Medisan for deceiving patients with false diagnoses and unnecessary treatments.

Honduras's official exchange rate climbed to L26.8727 per dollar on September 7, up L0.0077 from Friday, reflecting a slight strengthening of the US currency against the lempira.

The Honduran Medical College warned it will convene nationwide informational assemblies starting Monday if the government fails to pay eight months of back wages owed to health workers and fulfill job-placement commitments under a 2020 decree.

Finance Minister Emilio Hernández announced the 2027 budget totals 457 billion lempiras (about $18.3 billion), a 13-billion-lempira increase from 2026, with priority allocations for education, health, security, and defense.

Banking regulator CNBS Commissioner Nicolás García warns that scammers prey on victims by creating artificial urgency and promising unrealistic returns, urging consumers to verify CNBS authorization and never share banking credentials.

ENEE announced scheduled power cuts on September 4 affecting dozens of communities in Comayagua (8:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.) and parts of San Pedro Sula (8:45 a.m.–2:45 p.m.).

The World Food Programme's regional director will visit Honduras this week to meet with President Asfura and assess the impact of an El Niño-driven drought affecting 103 municipalities, particularly in the Dry Corridor, where the government has declared a water emergency.

The U.S. State Department said it welcomes Honduras's passage of the Energy Justice Law, noting that American companies are interested in investing in the country's energy sector to improve reliability and create jobs.

ENEE has announced scheduled power cuts on September 3 in Santa Bárbara, Cortés, and Ocotepeque departments from early morning through mid-afternoon for maintenance work, equipment removal, and contractor projects.

A Honduran court on September 1 dismissed charges against former president Juan Orlando Hernández in the Pandora II case, ruling prosecutors failed to prove he diverted $10.8 million to his 2013 campaign when he led Congress, and ordering his release.

Honduras's new Energy Justice Law temporarily freezes ENEE electricity rates for six months, allows eligible low-income households to seek forgiveness of accumulated debts up to 250 kWh monthly consumption, and creates tax breaks for residential solar-panel systems.

Finance Secretary Emilio Hernández Hércules said the government will send its 2027 budget proposal to Congress on September 14, aiming to maintain a 1.0% fiscal deficit under the Fiscal Responsibility Law and avoid unsustainable debt.

Honduras's immigration authority reported 24,837 Chinese citizens entered the country irregularly from 2014 to present, with a sharp spike of 12,184 in 2023 following the establishment of diplomatic relations with China, prompting congressional oversight.

Honduras's Supreme Court is renewing invitations to the Garífuna community and Ofraneh to participate in dialogue tables aimed at addressing a criminal case against five San Juan residents and implementing a 2023 Inter-American Court ruling on the community's territorial and collective rights.

ENEE will cut power Monday, August 31 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Tegucigalpa neighborhoods and 8:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. in Choloma for scheduled distribution-network maintenance.

Mario Roberto Flores Mejía, a Honduran fugitive who had been on the FBI's most-wanted list since 2007 with a $250,000 reward, was handed over to U.S. authorities after a Honduran judge approved his extradition to face charges in Philadelphia for the 2000 kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder of a five-year-old girl.

Former prosecutor Nilia Ramos criticized Honduras's courts for acquitting Alexander Ardón — who confessed in a U.S. court to drug trafficking and involvement in 56 murders — on money-laundering charges on August 24, and called for an audit of the judiciary to determine what went wrong.

A mental health law proposal was presented to Congress, aimed at strengthening psychiatric services and guaranteeing care for an estimated 1.5 to 1.6 million Hondurans with mental disorders, with officials citing depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia as the most common conditions treated.

The National Human Rights Commission reported 117 children under 18 died violently through August 2026—roughly one every 43 hours—with eight in ten victims aged 15–18, prompting officials to call the situation a national emergency requiring stronger prevention and protection measures.

Freight-transport leaders say they will stage protests if authorities do not address rising diesel costs, citing operating losses and a lack of government response to their requests for a 12-cent-per-gallon fuel subsidy and enforcement of an April price adjustment.

The Agricultural Ministry is rushing to georeference over 50% of Honduras's coffee farms by year-end to meet European traceability standards and secure market access, protecting income for 120,000 farming families as the current harvest approaches 7.3 million quintals (about 330,000 metric tons).

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 Agriculture Ministry is evaluating silver iodide cloud seeding with private companies and international partners to stimulate rainfall across drought-affected areas including the dry corridor and Tegucigalpa over the next two months.

The national electric utility (ENEE) will cut power on August 25 in neighborhoods across Francisco Morazán, Comayagua, and Cortés departments for maintenance, equipment installation, and private-company work, with outages lasting 6 hours in most areas.

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.

Honduras's Education Ministry denied reports that it would fine teachers or schools L300 (about $12) for not participating in September patriotic parades, saying participation is voluntary and schools may hold civic events on campus instead.

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.

A tropical wave moving through Honduras this Sunday and Monday will bring weak to moderate scattered showers to eastern, central, northern, southwestern, and southern regions, with the heaviest activity on Sunday.