Thursday, July 16, 2026 — Evening Edition

The Tegucigalpa municipal government hired 42 new advisers between February and May 2026, bringing its adviser roster to 110 and adding 2.2 million lempiras (about $88,000) a month to the payroll, despite Mayor Juan Diego Zelaya's campaign promise to cut staff.

Juan Flores, president of the Fundación 15 de Septiembre, says Honduras's Foreign Ministry and consulates are neglecting Honduran migrants hospitalized in the United States, and he is asking the human-rights commissioner to investigate.

Vehicle registration fees in the capital will rise 4.2% to match accumulated inflation, lifting the tax from 1,600 lempiras to 1,668 lempiras, with Mayor Juan Diego Zelaya saying the municipal council approved no discretionary hike.

Honduras's information institute (IAIP) has launched three emergency portals meant to make government agencies more transparent and accountable in how they spend public money.

Congress approved an extension of the contract between the national prison authority and a supplier installing body scanners and X-ray equipment in Honduran prisons to tighten security and control across the penal system.

Also reported by: Congreso Nacional

Eastern Honduras's roughly 3,000 onion growers warn they will resume street protests unless the government enforces an agreement that limits imports and shields domestic producers from falling prices and lost sales.

Also reported by: Infobae – Honduras, Radio América Honduras

Customs revenue from import duties (DAI) jumped 18% from a year earlier, reflecting stronger commercial activity and the Customs Administration's push to streamline procedures and cut processing times.

The president of Tegucigalpa's Chamber of Commerce and Industries calls Honduras's newly approved part-time employment law a step forward but says its ambiguities blunt its impact, and he urges the government, Congress, and stakeholders to open talks to strengthen and clarify it by consensus.

Civil-society groups say drug purchases and free-tuition programs are at risk because budget execution has dropped below 40%, starving key health and education initiatives of funds.

The Agricultural Marketing Institute's director said a legal review of bean supplies is nearing its end, with the government holding about 100,000 quintals (roughly 4,500 metric tons) in reserve to head off shortages, and he expects clearance to begin sales within days.

Honduras will distribute about 2,100 units of heavy machinery worth $244 million to all 298 municipalities, with each getting a standardized kit of tractors, graders, and water trucks, plus factory maintenance and satellite monitoring.

Merchants and residents say raw sewage, crumbling streets, and years of neglect in a busy commercial sector of San Pedro Sula are driving off customers, damaging vehicles, and endangering public health.

The San José Dam, Tegucigalpa's first major water project in three decades, has resumed after a 17-month halt and is now 46% complete; city officials aim to finish by 2028 to help ease the capital's chronic water shortages.

The Education Ministry will let only 60 schools march in Tegucigalpa's September 15 Independence Day parade and has set time limits and rules to shorten the event and spare students the midday heat.

A teacher in Morazán, Yoro, remains suspended while authorities investigate a viral video of an alleged classroom confrontation; school officials say the student involved had a history of discipline problems and had been deported from the US before enrolling.

Honduras's human-rights ombudsman reported that teachers filed 553 complaints between 2016 and 2025, most of them over labor disputes.

Tegucigalpa's municipal government and Amazon Web Services are offering 15,000 free scholarships in artificial intelligence and cloud computing to ready Honduran youth and professionals for digital-economy jobs by 2028.

Also reported by: US Embassy Tegucigalpa (X)

Rescue teams are searching for two men who vanished trying to cross the swollen Wampú and Los Mangos rivers in Gracias a Dios and Olancho after heavy rains, which have displaced more than 2,000 people and damaged homes across the region.

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

Honduras issued a yellow weather alert for heavy rains from a trough system as Tropical Storm Elida formed over the Pacific Ocean.

Wampusirpe's mayor warned that the rising Patuca River threatens fresh flooding after heavy rains forced more than 160 families to evacuate and destroyed crops and livestock across the municipality, with roads cut off and more rain in the forecast.

Henry Valladares, a teacher and municipal councilman in Danlí, is accused of sexually abusing a student and getting her pregnant.

National Police arrested a man accused of sexually abusing his 14-year-old cousin in El Progreso, Yoro, leaving the child pregnant; a court issued a warrant in 2024, and the suspect now faces charges of sexual assault against a minor.

Police in La Ceiba arrested a man who, while drunk, drove at officers in the early morning in an apparent attempt to run them down.