Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Amnesty International's Americas director said recent Honduran laws—including an expanded definition of terrorism and a measure on the agro-industrial sector—resemble patterns elsewhere in Latin America that have been used to criminalize protest, though she noted that Amnesty has not yet formally analyzed them.

Honduran consular official Sandra Fúnez says most eligible Hondurans have already applied to Spain's migration regularization program ahead of its June 30 deadline, and that the few who have not are mostly held back by pending criminal records in Spain.

The Central Bank of Honduras allocated $85.1 million in its June 22 foreign-exchange auction, setting the weighted average exchange rate at L26.7166 per dollar for June 23.

Honduras's public debt grew by $1.8 billion in the first three months of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier.

Also reported by: Radio América

Honduras's Energy Ministry lowered prices for gasoline, kerosene, diesel, and vehicle liquefied petroleum gas effective June 23, while keeping a temporary subsidy on household cooking gas to shield families from volatile global crude markets.

Honduras's net foreign reserves reached $1.19 billion as of June 19, up sharply from late January, while import coverage held steady at 6.6 months.

Civil-society groups have called on the government to redirect about 7 billion lempiras—roughly $280 million—now spent on subsidies toward public investment instead.

A CEPAL report finds Guatemala and Honduras have the highest rates of multidimensional poverty in Central America—measuring deprivation in health, education, housing, employment, and services—with Honduras at 12% and Guatemala at 28.9%, and both countries showing severe housing overcrowding above 40%.

Leonardo Deras, a commissioner at the electricity regulator CREE, warned that the state utility ENEE is losing 1.3 billion lempiras—about $52 million—a month and that, without action, losses could reach 150 billion lempiras, roughly $6 billion, in the coming years.

Also reported by: Radio América Honduras

The Tegucigalpa municipal government and the Infrastructure and Transportation Ministry have announced a joint project to restore the historic National Post Office, preserving its heritage and returning the landmark to public use.

The Infrastructure Ministry is rebuilding 5.5 km—3.4 miles—of road linking Lomas de Toncontín with the Villeda Morales colony, laying new asphalt and improving drainage in a project officials say will benefit more than 30,000 residents and create jobs.

A CT scanner installed at Hospital San Felipe's oncology center comes with three competing accounts of its origin—a L31 million purchase order, about $1.24 million; a claimed international donation; and a supposed debt—leaving its funding source unclear.

An agricultural leader in Olancho voiced alarm over a severe drought threatening dry-season plantings and grain production, calling the conditions unprecedented and warning of risks to food security.

Contracultura, a print cultural magazine from Honduras, won the 2026 King of Spain Journalism Prize in the cultural category, with editors saying the award amplifies Central American voices and the indigenous and Garífuna stories often crowded out by narratives of violence and migration.

The 13th annual Gracias Convoca arts and culture festival runs July 1–4 in the western city of Gracias, drawing an expected 25,000 to 30,000 visitors for concerts, Lenca cultural exhibits, regional cuisine, and performances headlined by the Argentine band Los Pericos.

Honduras's Liga Nacional opens its 2026–2027 season on July 31 with 12 clubs, including the newly invited Atlético Independiente, under a new format that splits teams into north and south groups and gives each 16 regular-season matches.

The Honduras Football Federation proposed crowning the National League champion on total points across a single long season, as in Europe, but the league assembly rejected the plan.

Nearly 4.5 years after Angie Peña disappeared on January 1, 2022, her family and human-rights lawyers say the state has failed to seriously investigate a human-trafficking network operating on the island of Roatán, with prosecutors unfamiliar with the case's details and multiple lines of inquiry left uncoordinated.

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

Eleven Honduran police officers will learn their sentences on June 29 for allegedly planting evidence on two Filipino nationals and robbing them during an illegal 2023 raid in Villanueva, Cortés.

The 2011 killing of two university students by National Police officers in Tegucigalpa set off Honduras's largest police purge, leading authorities to remove about 6,000 officers and hire 14,000 new recruits under reformed standards.

Police in La Ceiba arrested a child suspected of drug trafficking and seized 250 doses of suspected crack cocaine; the youth had a prior arrest tied to an attempted homicide in November 2025.

President Asfura and Ukrainian President Zelenski signed a joint declaration and created an intergovernmental commission to expand bilateral trade, draw investment in agriculture and technology, and strengthen food security through fertilizer access and more diverse markets.

Also reported by: Radio Cadena Voces (RCV), HCH, Presidencia de Honduras

For a third day, investigators from the Public Ministry's Criminal Investigation Agency seized documents at the Infrastructure and Transport Ministry, seeking records on hospital construction projects in Olancho, Ocotepeque, and Santa Bárbara launched under the previous administration.

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

Congress says it has the 65 votes needed to pass electricity-sector reforms meant to modernize the system and stem ENEE's mounting losses—about 1.5 billion lempiras a month—while denying opposition claims that the measures would privatize the state utility.

Also reported by: Radio América Honduras

Residents, business leaders, and professionals have launched a campaign to bring international flights back to Tegucigalpa's Toncontín Airport, shuttered four years ago when service moved to Palmerola; backers say the closure has hurt the capital's competitiveness and economy.

Taiwan's vice minister of foreign affairs said his government is willing to resume diplomatic relations and joint development projects with Honduras, noting that President Asfura made the promise during his campaign.

Congresswoman Iroshka Elvir of the Liberal Party criticized the government's pause on eight hospital projects begun under former president Xiomara Castro, arguing the freeze favors private health care over public services.

A government decree approving a national anti-corruption strategy confirms that the Asfura administration has rejected setting up CICIH as an independent international anti-corruption mission, replacing it with a technical-assistance plan that critics say lacks the investigative powers and judicial independence citizens have demanded since 2015.

Former Supreme Court magistrate Jacobo Cálix urged broad public debate on a proposed Judicial Council law before Congress passes it, warning that if lawmakers appoint council members, political influence could erode judicial independence and merit-based selection of judges.

A new CESPAD report on Honduras's 2025 territorial conflicts maps 77 disputes across 13 departments, examining the economic interests behind them, the legal frameworks at play, the criminalization of land defenders, and the toll on human rights and communities.

Work to rebuild the Juan Manuel Gálvez bridge on the Valle de Ángeles exit, which collapsed 18 months ago, is on track to reopen in 60 days, with a L14 million (about $560,000) investment also funding a third lane and an overpass to ease traffic in the capital.

Also reported by: TuNota (Canal 5 / TSI)

A delegation from Honduras's electricity regulator, CREE, arrived on Roatán to meet with the local utility and residents over recent tariff increases that have drawn complaints from families and businesses across the island.

Also reported by: Radio Cadena Voces (RCV), Radio HRN

Local officials and small and midsize businesses in western Honduras called for passage of electricity-sector reforms, saying constant blackouts cost them as much as 100 million lempiras (about $4 million) a month.

The Infrastructure Ministry installed protective mesh on a steep stretch of the CA-5 Sur highway in Francisco Morazán to prevent rockslides and reduce hazards for travelers and nearby residents.

Honduras's Medical Association rejected claims by Vice President–designate María Antonieta Mejía linking doctors to corruption and medicine shortages in public hospitals, demanding she provide evidence within 72 hours or issue a public apology.

The Public Ministry's environmental crimes unit is investigating the construction of a house and viewing platforms in the village of Las Peñitas, within the El Merendón protected reserve near San Pedro Sula.

Fundación Terra launched its peer-tutoring scholarship program in Intibucá, reaching 120 students at three schools through a model in which top-performing students tutor younger peers in core subjects to close learning gaps and keep students in school.

Police in Olanchito, Yoro, arrested two laborers, aged 32 and 24, on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 31-year-old man in his home Saturday night and threatening him to keep him from reporting the crime.

Also reported by: HCH, Radio HRN, Policía Nacional de Honduras

Honduras's new Anti-Extortion and Terrorist Associations Division (DAET) arrested 29 people tied to criminal groups in its first 25 days—10 on warrants and 19 caught in the act, most of them suspected MS-13 members.

Also reported by: Policía Nacional de Honduras

A specialized tribunal sentenced five people—two former Social Security Institute executives and three construction contractors—to prison and fines for a scheme to embezzle nearly 158 million lempiras (about $6.3 million) through irregular infrastructure contracts awarded between 2010 and 2013.

Also reported by: Ministerio Público (X)

A Choloma woman died over the weekend at a local gym in circumstances authorities are investigating, and forensic pathologists are performing an autopsy to determine the cause of death and whether a preexisting medical condition played a role.

Also reported by: Radio HRN

At least three women were killed in recent days in Tegucigalpa, Comayagüela, and Olanchito; the Violence Observatory at the National Autonomous University of Honduras reports more than 130 women murdered so far this year, citing impunity as a major barrier to justice in femicide cases.

Also reported by: Infobae – Honduras, Radio Cadena Voces (X)