Friday, June 12, 2026

The National Congress has failed to answer transparency requests for information on advertising spending, lawmaker travel allowances, and legislative social programs, blowing past the 10-business-day legal deadline.

A legislative committee brought together mining officials and environmental agencies to discuss drawing investment into responsible mining and speeding up approvals, with the Natural Resources Ministry citing 2.647 billion lempiras in recent mining investment and roughly 2,000 jobs.

Lawsuits by former municipal employees have produced garnishments topping 950 million lempiras against 13 municipalities in Olancho, Choluteca, and nearby departments, freezing 40% or more of central government transfers to the affected towns; a Liberal congressman is among the lawyers bringing the cases.

A U.S. program offering migrants $1,000 to $2,000 to leave voluntarily has prompted thousands of Hondurans to go home, attorney Roberto Velásquez says, proving more effective than he had expected.

Two days after passing the Agroindustrial Protection Law, Congress amended it outside normal procedure to extend tax and permitting benefits to the energy and tourism sectors, a move critics say breaks parliamentary rules and threatens Indigenous and Garífuna lands.

The National Congress announced agreements to return about 30 seized VIP taxis, suspend penalties from transport authorities, and set up a regulatory framework letting VIP and digital-platform cabs operate alongside traditional taxis, ending a conflict that had threatened further protests.

A June 2026 survey by Data Veritas and Radio Cadena Voces found that 64.1% of Hondurans believe the country is heading in the wrong direction and named corruption as the top national problem, while 74.6% disapprove of President Asfura's administration.

Also reported by: Radio Cadena Voces (X)

State power utility ENEE needs L35.4 billion (about $1.4 billion) in domestic debt from 2026 to 2029 to pay private generators, with losses exceeding 34% and total debt now at L73.3 billion.

The Central Bank of Honduras allocated $85.1 million in its June 11 currency auction, setting the weighted average exchange rate at L26.6929 per dollar for June 12.

Former Central American Bank president Dante Mossi warned that a proposed reform to exempt bonuses from income tax (ISR) would open the door to tax evasion and cut government revenue, reversing two decades of IMF-backed reforms.

Also reported by: Radio América Honduras

Honduras's power regulator confirmed a third-quarter rate increase taking effect July 1, driven by higher generation costs, fuel prices, and a weaker lempira; the exact percentage will be announced within days.

With the entrance in disrepair, women in labor must wade through puddles and rough conditions to reach the maternity ward at Hospital San Felipe in Francisco Morazán.

The Health Ministry has confirmed an imported measles case in the Bay Islands and is urging residents to watch for fever, cough, conjunctivitis, and rash and to check their vaccination status.

Honduras is hosting the 30th International Medical Congress and 9th International Nursing Congress from June 11 to 13 in Tegucigalpa, drawing regional and international medical experts to present research on complex diseases and clinical advances.

A bill introduced in Congress by lawmaker Johana Bermúdez would guarantee free, non-discriminatory medical care, confidentiality, and social support for Hondurans living with HIV, while requiring the state to ensure uninterrupted access to antiretroviral drugs.

A cross-border investigation by Latin American journalists found that environmental defenders in Honduras, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Brazil, and Panama face coordinated online harassment, doxxing, and death threats meant to discredit them, yet most countries lack adequate legal safeguards against digital violence.

Environmental prosecutors inspected the protected zone of the Río Oloma in El Negrito, Yoro, after a report of illegal cutting of mahogany, hormigo, and sangre trees.

Tropical Depression Cristina weakened from a tropical storm on Wednesday, but officials warn it could strengthen again as it keeps drenching Central America with heavy rain.

Also reported by: Once Noticias, Radio HRN, Radio Cadena Voces (X)

Residents of northern El Progreso say the earthen levees along the Ulúa River lack proper reinforcement and solid barriers to withstand heavy rains, raising fears of flooding in vulnerable communities as the wet season intensifies.

Liverpool FC said it will offer a new contract to 19-year-old Honduran forward Keyrol Figueroa after he scored 11 goals in 14 Premier League 2 matches this season and made his international debut for Honduras.

Juan Guardado Portillo, 49, was shot dead by two gunmen on a motorcycle in Choloma on June 10; police suspect gang members demanding extortion, in an attack that also wounded a teenage passenger.

Financial crimes and customs authorities are inspecting La Ceiba's coastal port after complaints of alleged irregularities in rental contracts.

Security Ministry data show 4,542 women were killed violently between 2014 and April 2026—roughly one a day—with intimate-partner violence, personal disputes, and organized crime among the leading causes.

An elderly woman in El Triunfo, Choluteca, reported her grandson to police after he allegedly threatened to kill her and set fire to her bed and belongings inside her home.

US authorities are warning foreign content creators who plan to cover the 2026 World Cup that posting monetized social-media content violates the terms of a tourist visa and could lead to visa cancellation and deportation.

The head of Honduras's electoral commission has proposed scrapping the unanimity requirement for decisions by the electoral council and electoral court in favor of simple-majority voting to speed up elections, though opposition parties fear it could weaken consensus-building.

Honduras's engineering college says a draft reform of the national electricity law could threaten the sector's stability by exempting state-owned subsidiaries from traditional asset controls, and that it lacks binding measures to tackle chronic technical and non-technical losses.

Hugo Maldonado, president of the human rights committee CODEH, is urging a congressional commission to approve a decree imposing life sentences on anyone who kills prosecutors, police officers, judges, journalists, or human rights defenders.

Congress on June 4 passed a law exempting agribusiness land from expropriation and land-reform programs and ordering police to act at once against occupations or protests, a measure peasant groups say criminalizes rural organizing in the conflict-torn Bajo Aguán region, where 20 people were killed on May 21.

Finance Minister Emilio Hernández and Central Bank President Roberto Lagos signed a letter of intent to the IMF before its June 29 board review, with officials saying approval could unlock about $240 million in new funds and help stabilize the economy.

Also reported by: Radio América Honduras

Honduras's Energy Ministry announced price cuts for regular gasoline, premium gasoline, and kerosene starting June 15, easing costs for consumers and businesses as authorities watch global market shifts.

Honduras's apparel-manufacturing sector has added about 2,000 jobs in recent months and reported fewer mass-layoff announcements, though unions warn that thousands remain out of work and are calling for talks to speed up rehiring.

Tradable-goods prices in Honduras rose 0.81% month-over-month in May, driven by external shocks from geopolitical factors that pushed up fuel prices.

The national utility ENEE will cut power to various parts of Honduras on Saturday, June 13, for scheduled grid maintenance and upgrades, with outages lasting up to six hours in affected zones.

Also reported by: TuNota (Canal 5 / TSI)

A suspension bridge in San Francisco del Valle collapsed and killed three members of one family; residents say they had warned for years that it was deteriorating, and authorities have now approved a permanent replacement.

Tegucigalpa's city government is dredging, cleaning, and channeling six priority streams—removing 60,000 cubic meters of sediment and debris—to cut flooding risk for roughly 600 communities during the June-to-November rainy season.

Infrastructure Minister Aníbal Ehrler said reconstruction of the Germania Bridge and the widening of the southern highway exit to three lanes will be finished by September.

Work is advancing on flood-protection levees at Finca 28 in El Negrito, Yoro, designed to shield communities and farmland from flooding.

The Honduran Navy found three fishermen from Gracias a Dios who went missing on June 7 when their boat's engine failed, leaving them stranded three nautical miles off Caratasca Bar; all three were found alive and are receiving medical care.

Also reported by: Once Noticias, Radio América Honduras

Firefighters rescued an 8-year-old boy with serious burns to his left foot from a fire that destroyed a home in La Ceiba's Jesenia Castillo neighborhood, where two adults and four children lived.

A forum on emergency contraception in Honduras found that despite a decree mandating free access at public facilities without a prescription, rural women face steep barriers, pharmacies stock the pill inconsistently, and awareness campaigns fall short.

Indigenous Maya Chortí communities in Copán are filing a nullity action against Minosa's 30-year mining concession extension, arguing the company improperly invoked an automatic administrative approval (afirmativa ficta) without meeting legal requirements or consulting affected residents.

Honduras's disaster agency COPECO has placed the Caribbean coast and Bay Islands under a Green Alert because of rough seas, the same alert level already in effect for the country's 11 departments.

Also reported by: Radio HRN, Radio América Honduras

The La Prensa-Gatorade Marathon, Honduras's premier annual running event, will draw thousands of domestic and international competitors to San Pedro Sula on June 14, with proceeds going to a school project.

Marathón goalkeeper César Samudio, playing for Panama's national team, is the only player from Honduras's Liga Nacional at the 2026 World Cup, with Panama set to open against Ghana on June 17.

A shooting at an eatery in San Manuel, Cortés, killed three people—among them Óscar Ortiz Enríquez and Melva Caballero Fernández—after armed men on motorcycles walked in and opened fire; one other person was wounded.

Also reported by: La Prensa, HCH, TuNota (Canal 5 / TSI), Once Noticias

A Honduran court sentenced security guard Sandro José Martínez Núñez to 18 years in prison after he confessed to murdering 14-year-old Hong Xi Xuan at a family business in Tegucigalpa on April 25; an abbreviated procedure cut the sentence from the standard 20 to 25 years for murder.

Also reported by: El Heraldo, TuNota (Canal 5 / TSI), Radio HRN