Wednesday, July 8, 2026

El Progreso's city council repealed a municipal vehicle-tax increase that had triggered protests and roadblocks, and ruled that residents who already paid will get a credit toward other municipal fees.

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

Honduras's National Migration Institute said its emergency passport centers have issued more than 950 urgent travel documents in their first 90 days of continuous operation.

More than 56,300 Hondurans applied to Spain's extraordinary regularization program before it closed June 30, making them the fifth-largest nationality group after Colombians, Moroccans, Venezuelans, and Peruvians, with decisions expected within three months.

A former member of Honduras's National Electoral Council warned that its interim leadership lacks clear authority to make key decisions needed for the 2029 general elections and future electoral reforms.

Former president Juan Orlando Hernández said he will return to Honduras on July 26 at 9 a.m., saying

The government approved imports of corn, beans, and rice to manage domestic supply and hold down prices amid drought, while the agriculture ministry seeks higher-yield rice seeds to lift national production.

From January to March 2026, demand for concrete blocks (93.6%), aluminum-zinc roofing (84.1%), and ceramic tile (55.1%) drove higher production of cement, rebar, and concrete in Honduras's private construction sector.

Honduras has launched a central registry, run by the banking regulator, to identify the true owners of companies, trusts, and investment funds operating in the country, aiming to end corporate anonymity and meet international transparency standards.

The government announced 64.3 million lempiras (about $2.6 million) in financing for salt producers through the ComRural program, aiming to strengthen the sector and create jobs in salt-producing communities across Honduras.

The Central Bank president says Honduras's electricity crisis is the main brake on economic growth, capping expansion at roughly 3.5% a year without reform, and that fixing the power sector would free public funds for health and education while drawing investment.

Infrastructure Minister Aníbal Ehrler said the 28-year Palmerola International Airport concession includes a clause barring another international airport within 100 kilometers (affecting Tegucigalpa's airport), though officials may negotiate exemptions for regional and domestic flights.

Three cardiologists have left Honduras's public health institute (IHSS), citing low wages and the lack of permanent appointments, leaving the system with just one cardiologist when officials say five to seven are needed in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula alone.

Honduras's immunization director said a rigorous review of three child deaths following vaccination found no scientific evidence of a causal link, attributing the deaths to preexisting conditions, and urged parents to keep their children's vaccinations up to date.

Critics say Honduras has spent 3 billion lempiras (roughly $120 million) on reforestation projects with no measurable evidence of impact, raising questions about how the public funds are managed and overseen.

Rev. Mario Orlando Ordóñez Pavón, a prominent evangelical pastor who led Ministerio Vida Hoy for 25 years and worked with the Christian media outlets HRVC and Stereo Luz, died July 5 of natural causes at age 58.

Honduran club Motagua confirmed the signing of 34-year-old Costa Rican forward Jonathan Moya to a two-year contract, its fourth offseason acquisition as it prepares for the domestic Apertura tournament and the Central American Cup.

Jen Lung Wu, a 57-year-old Taiwanese resident of Juticalpa, Olancho, was found dead in his home after neighbors reported unusual odors; authorities believe he died several days earlier and are awaiting autopsy results to confirm the cause.

Authorities added American Antony Frank Grayson to Honduras's most-wanted list in connection with the disappearance of Angie Peña, who vanished from the Bay Islands in January 2022, offering 300,000 lempiras (about $12,000) for information leading to his arrest.

Also reported by: Policía Nacional de Honduras

On March 6, 2016, five armed men dressed as police officers walked into a billiard hall in Tegucigalpa's Primero de Diciembre neighborhood and opened fire with AK-47s, killing 12 people and wounding three in one of Honduras's deadliest massacres.

Acting on a court order and an investigation into a July 4 attack on armed forces members, Honduras's Military Police raided a home in Siguatepeque suspected of involvement in drug trafficking, weapons storage, stolen-motorcycle dismantling, and other crimes, seizing marijuana, cocaine, ammunition, and vehicle parts.

Three Honduran officials will train at Spain's National Police Academy under the EU-backed EUROFRONT program to sharpen migration intelligence and border management.

The National Migration Institute has revived a temporary legal-residency permit for the foreign-born children of Honduran parents, letting them stay in the country legally until age 21 for a 200-lempira fee (about $8).

Lawmakers have altered the text of at least three laws already on the books through parliamentary reconsiderations and amendments to session records—a practice legal analysts say violates the Legislative Organic Law and echoes a 2018 corruption case.

The private-sector business council estimates that power outages—averaging 21,200 hours of unmet demand a year—cost Honduras about L1.2 billion (roughly $48 million) annually in lost productivity, equipment damage, and generator expenses, even as the government pushes stalled reforms to shore up the state electricity utility.

The cost of Honduras's basic food basket rose 800 lempiras (about $32) in a year, a 6.16% jump driven by pricier meat and fruit, while drought across 75 municipalities threatens to push 2.8 million Hondurans into food insecurity by year's end.

Also reported by: Radio América, Radio América Honduras

Family remittances to Honduras reached $11.9 billion in 2025, reaching 3.1 million recipients and accounting for 30% of GDP, though growth is slowing from 2024.

Agriculture authorities will admit only processed pork products from disease-free zones in Spain, keeping a ban on fresh pork imports to protect domestic producers and guard against disease.

The Central Bank of Honduras sold $98.5 million at its July 7 currency auction, setting the weighted average exchange rate at L26.7474 per dollar for July 8.

The Honduran lempira has weakened to more than 26.87 per dollar on the selling side, and economists and civil groups warn the slide is fueling inflation and driving up the cost of living.

The Inter-American Development Bank ranked Honduras among the region's fastest-growing exporters in early 2026, led by coffee, apparel, bananas, and palm oil, while warning of risks from market volatility and rising costs.

Honduras is under pressure to hit the 1% fiscal-deficit target in its International Monetary Fund agreement, with economists warning that holding the line will be one of its toughest tasks in keeping the IMF's confidence and safeguarding its economic credibility.

The national utility ENEE will cut power on July 9 in parts of Colón, Cortés, El Paraíso, and Olancho for seven to nine hours of distribution-network maintenance, affecting residential, commercial, industrial, and rural areas.

Infrastructure Minister Aníbal Ehrler said half of the Germania Bridge on Tegucigalpa's southern exit will close tonight.

Edgar Aguilar of the Association for a More Just Society (ASJ) says the proposed reforms to rescue the state power company ENEE lack fundamental elements, while the ASJ has separately offered its own plans to restructure ENEE's debt and ease its financial burden.

The infrastructure ministry announced the paving of a nearly five-kilometer stretch between Tencoa and El Jilote in Santa Bárbara department.

Honduras has recorded 15 infant deaths from whooping cough so far in 2026, health authorities said.

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

An integrated food-security analysis warns that acute food insecurity in Honduras could deepen to 1.8 million people (18% of the population analyzed) between April and July 2026, driven by erratic rains, high grain prices, and depleted household reserves.

Honduras has logged more than 5,000 dengue cases so far in 2026, including one confirmed death, according to the health authority's surveillance chief, prompting new public-health alerts.

Also reported by: Radio Cadena Voces (X)

More than 1,000 girls aged 9 to 14 become pregnant each year in Honduras, a crisis the women's rights ombudsman blames on the lack of comprehensive sex education that leaves adolescents open to abuse and exploitation.

Civil-society groups and lawmakers in Cortés are challenging the Forestry Conservation Institute's plan to redraw the boundaries of the El Merendón protected forest reserve, arguing it would benefit private real-estate projects even though the reserve supplies 80% of San Pedro Sula's water and is vital to regional biodiversity.

Jeffrey K. Randall, commander of the US military's Joint Interagency Task Force South, arrived in Honduras to meet President Nasry Asfura and defense officials and review cooperation against drug trafficking and transnational organized crime.

The family of Angie Samantha Peña Melgares, missing for four and a half years, says the investigation points to a transnational human-trafficking network operating in the Bay Islands and accuses authorities of delays and irregularities in the case.

Estefany Guevara Varela, 26, of Santa Ana de Yusguare in Choluteca, was found dead in Mexico with a shotgun wound; her family awaits autopsy results and is trying to raise $3,300 to bring her body home for burial.

Also reported by: Once Noticias, HCH

From 2019 to 2025, Honduras officially recorded 2,278 femicides, but courts have prosecuted only about 150 of them, leaving families like that of 18-year-old Cinthia Melissa Hernández—found buried in her home after her partner fled—wrestling with despair and distrust of the justice system.