Tuesday, June 16, 2026

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

Also reported by: Radio América Honduras

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

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

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

The central bank's June 15 currency auction allocated $78.9 million and set a weighted average exchange rate of L26.6920 per dollar for June 16.

Honduras's average import price for fuel rose 24.2% from the previous month in April 2026, a slower pace than March's 32.9% jump, tracking crude-oil and derivative prices from the Gulf.

Honduras is running laboratory tests on soil and rock samples from dike-reconstruction projects in the Sula Valley to confirm the materials can withstand flooding and rising rivers, including tests for soil classification, permeability, and structural-load capacity.

A clash over overlapping duties between the interim technical chief and the administrative director at El Cajón, Honduras's largest hydroelectric plant, is stalling the purchase of parts needed to keep all four turbines running, according to internal communications obtained by El Heraldo.

ENEE announced planned power cuts on June 16 across several zones for scheduled maintenance and infrastructure work.

Telecommunications Commission member Saraí Espinal said cable and telecom operators will have 60 days, once Congress approves the measure, to remove unused cables and wiring from utility poles nationwide, with CONATEL overseeing compliance.

The Infrastructure Ministry has finished a breakwater in Manacalito, Puerto Cortés, to protect more than 200 families and roughly 3,700 acres of cropland from flooding and erosion by the Ulúa River.

The Special Environmental Protection Unit of the Public Prosecutor's Office is collecting water samples in the Medina neighborhood of Puerto Cortés to investigate possible contamination, working with CESCCO and the municipal environmental office.

Honduras has recorded 2,711 student dropouts in the first half of the 2026 school year, 75% of them in primary grades, with poverty, violence, and poor school conditions cited as the main causes.

A congressman has proposed a national student employment program that would offer tax incentives to companies hiring students aged 16 to 30 for part-time or flexible work that fits around their studies, with full labor protections.

Argentine coach Silvio Rudman, who recently left Boca Juniors, has been hired to lead San Pedro Sula's Marathón after the club's loss in the Clausura final.

Pedro Alexis Matamoros Sánchez, the fourth person charged in the 2019 killing of former Tegucigalpa mayor Óscar Acosta, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty.

Also reported by: Poder Judicial Honduras, Ministerio Público (X)

A court in San Pedro Sula unanimously acquitted Isaac Sandoval of violence against a woman and injury charges brought by his ex-partner, Colombian model Daniela Aldana, finding insufficient evidence to support the allegations.

Honduras's Public Ministry seized 104 illicit assets—including 40 vehicles, 38 financial products, 19 properties, and seven businesses—linked to a fugitive tied to the criminal organization Los Pinto, after spotting an unexplained gap of 418 million lempiras (about $16.7 million) in his finances.

Also reported by: Ministerio Público (X)

Proposed reforms to combat femicide, including specialized courts staffed by women judges, have the judiciary's support but still need a budget allocation that has not yet been secured, the president of Honduras's Supreme Court says.

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

North America leads Honduras's trade, with the United States alone taking 46.4% of exports, followed by Europe at 20.9% and Central America at 20.3%.

Failure to pass an energy-sector reform will entrench ENEE's structural problems, mounting debt, and operating losses, says central bank president Roberto Lagos, who has won the backing of international multilateral organizations.

Former Liberal Party leader Yani Rosenthal says fallout from a foreign war has pushed Honduras's inflation beyond the Central Bank's target range, squeezing households and forcing the government to subsidize fuel and energy costs.

Honduras's merchandise exports grew 7.3% in the first half of 2026 from a year earlier, lifted by higher coffee and banana volumes and stronger international prices for gold and recycled goods.

A consumer-advocacy group reported that at least 16 staple foods rose in price over the weekend, with beans reaching 120 lempiras (about $4.80) per measure and eggs up to 110 lempiras (about $4.40) per carton, along with higher prices for chayote, potatoes, peppers, and broccoli, blamed on weather, inflation, and Middle East conflicts.

The agency's review of electricity tariffs reflects upward pressure from rising fuel prices, exchange-rate shifts, and growing energy demand, CREE commissioner Héctor Corrales said.

Honduras's state power utility is issuing bonds on the national financial market to raise cash and clear its accumulated debts to electricity generators, officials say, aiming to keep the power flowing.

The capital's water utility has announced a rotating supply schedule for June 16–21, with outages of three to six days per neighborhood, after drought left reservoirs at less than 50% capacity.

The state utility ENEE will cut power to industrial parks, commercial centers, and neighborhoods in San Pedro Sula on June 16 from 8:45 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. for maintenance on two distribution circuits serving the Bermejo substation.

María Teresa Hernández García, 22 and pregnant, died at Hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa hours after being rushed from Copán with severe burns from a home accident; her family is seeking financial help to transport her body for burial in San Nicolás.

Honduras's Health Ministry has extended its vaccination and deworming campaign through June to widen immunization coverage nationwide, as the country reports five confirmed measles cases.

Honduras's atmospheric agency has confirmed the onset of an extreme El Niño phase that could bring prolonged drought, high temperatures, and water shortages, threatening agriculture, livestock, hydroelectric power, and drinking water for millions of Hondurans over the next year.

The National Risk and Contingencies office issued a 48-hour green alert for the Gulf of Fonseca coast over strong waves (3–4 feet), longer wave periods, and spring tides heightened by the new moon and lunar perigee, posing risks to fishers, small boats, and coastal communities.

Also reported by: Radio América Honduras

Tegucigalpa's municipal emergency committee is clearing sediment from rivers and drains and hauling away debris to cut flood risk as a tropical wave nears the capital this week.

The Honduran Olympic Committee named tennis player Natalie Gabriela Espinal Sánchez and taekwondo athlete Derek David Midence Aguilar as Honduras's flag bearers for the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo, July 24–August 8, 2026.

A federal judge in Michigan sentenced Honduran national Wilmer Rodríguez, 39, to nearly four years in prison for illegally re-entering the United States after deportation, following an earlier state conviction for first-degree sexual assault, kidnapping, and firearms offenses.

Mario Macedo, his sister Carmen Lobo, and Lobo's daughter Yaritza Suárez were shot dead at their home in rural Yoro in what police believe was retaliation for property damage months earlier; several gunmen on motorcycles carried out the killings.

Also reported by: Radio Cadena Voces (RCV)

Suyapa Zamora died after her partner attacked her with a club at their home in Arenas, Sonaguera, Colón; police have opened an investigation into the killing.

Honduras's Supreme Court rejected journalist José Carlo Panameño's appeal and upheld his conviction for assaulting neighbor Edson Euclides Gutiérrez Lagos in a May 24, 2023 parking dispute, as the victim breaks years of silence about the incident.

A man already accused of violence against his wife and child is suspected of killing his brother's wife in the Las Conchas community of Marcovia, Choluteca; police came to gather evidence as the investigation continues.

A judge ordered Daniel Antonio Meraz Cáceres held in pretrial detention on a charge of aggravated femicide in the death of nurse Elvia Mercedes Gómez López, killed June 3 in San Manuel, Cortés; a preliminary hearing is set for July 15.

Also reported by: Radio Cadena Voces (RCV), Poder Judicial Honduras