Wednesday, June 17, 2026 — Morning Edition

The congressional Mining Commission will set up technical working groups to draft changes to Honduras's mining law, aiming to simplify licensing for small-scale artisanal miners while addressing environmental protection and benefits to communities.

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

The Liberal Party backed reforming the state electricity utility ENEE but demanded that strategic state assets, including the El Cajón hydroelectric dam, be protected from any privatization in the overhaul.

Also reported by: Radio América Honduras

Deputy Finance Minister Liliam Rivera said the National Treasury is under critical strain from automatic debt payments tied to lawsuits left by the previous administration, on top of obligations to multilateral lenders and a floating debt of more than 24 billion lempiras (about $960 million).

President Nasry Asfura called the state power company's losses and mounting debt the country's chief economic concern, pledging to stabilize its operations while keeping it publicly owned and freeing up money for health, education, and infrastructure.

Also reported by: Radio Cadena Voces (X)

Members of Congress from La Paz are backing a decree to spend 19.5 million lempiras (about $780,000) to pave a 3-kilometer access road to San Pedro de Tutule, a major coffee-growing municipality whose existing routes flood in the rainy season.

Of 32 dike and flood-control projects underway across the Sula Valley ahead of the rainy season, only six are finished, 26 are about half-done, and several have not begun, with the Infrastructure Ministry projecting completion in July.

ENEE's financial manager said the utility has a plan to meet its near-term obligations and restructure its debt, and that pending energy reforms will build confidence among lenders and potential investors.

Thirteen people in Intibucá were hospitalized after eating toxic mushrooms, leaving an 11-year-old girl in critical condition.

Nurses, nursing assistants, stretcher-bearers, and support staff at Leonardo Martínez Valenzuela Hospital in San Pedro Sula protested Monday over wages owed for up to ten months, despite working steadily since their reinstatement in July 2025 following a wrongful-dismissal lawsuit.

Copeco warned that Honduras will see heavy rain and electrical storms from June 15–21 as a trough and tropical wave move across the country, with the southern and western departments facing the heaviest downpours.

Also reported by: Radio HRN

Honduras's weather agency warns that El Niño, confirmed by NOAA, could last into early 2027 and bring a prolonged dry season with rainfall shortfalls topping 40% in parts of the country, threatening corn and bean harvests and food prices in vulnerable regions.

San Pedro Sula's 34th annual Feria Juniana will feature 500 vendors, live World Cup broadcasts, music, food, and entertainment over ten days, with organizers projecting 300,000 visitors and about 150 million lempiras in economic activity.

Honduras won six gold, one silver, and two bronze medals at the Central American Bodybuilding and Fitness Championship in San Salvador, finishing second in the team standings behind Guatemala.

Prosecutors in San Pedro Sula filed charges against 18 people in connection with drug-trafficking offenses.

Authorities found the badly decomposed body of a 57-year-old woman inside her home in Choloma, Cortés, after neighbors reported a strong odor; forensic experts will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

A man has been convicted of aggravated kidnapping and rape after luring victims with false promises of jobs in Honduras.