Friday, July 17, 2026

Foreign Minister Mireya Agüero said she will meet El Salvador's foreign minister in the coming days to discuss Isla Conejo, a long-disputed islet in the Gulf of Fonseca, adding that relations between the two countries remain constructive.

Former president Juan Orlando Hernández, pardoned by President Trump in 2025 after his extradition to the US on drug-trafficking charges, will return to Honduras on July 26 to face fraud and money-laundering charges in the Pandora II case, with a court hearing set for August 3.

Venezuelans living in Honduras and Honduran citizens have begun collecting non-perishable food, hygiene products, and emergency supplies for families hit by the earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24.

Experts debated Honduras's urgent need to overhaul the electricity sector, warning that a failure to reach consensus by July will deepen blackouts, swell public debt, and scare off foreign investment, as lawmakers split over whether new utilities should stay state-owned or open to private investment.

Remittances to Honduras rose 13.2% to $5.29 billion in the first five months of 2026, the fastest growth among the three Northern Triangle countries, according to International Organization for Migration data.

Also reported by: Infobae – Honduras

The Central Bank of Honduras will take its online portal offline Saturday, July 18, and Sunday, July 19, for system upgrades, with normal service resuming Monday, July 20.

Honduras has signed a $65 million contract with German company Tönnjes to produce 2.9 million vehicle license plates through 2030, clearing a backlog of nearly one million vehicles still running on temporary paper permits.

Also reported by: TuNota (Canal 5 / TSI), Radio Cadena Voces (RCV), Presidencia de Honduras, Radio Cadena Voces (X)

Honduras had spent only 35% of its budget through mid-2026, according to watchdog ASJ, leaving gaps in medicines, school buildings, and other key services, though Finance Minister Emilio Hércules put the figure above 42%.

A northern-zone union leader put the number of unemployed Hondurans at more than 1.5 million, noting that older workers displaced by maquiladora closures face age discrimination and slim rehiring prospects despite government promises to create jobs.

ASJ economist Obed García warned that Honduras's public debt has grown to nearly the size of the entire national budget, leaving little fiscal room for salaries, public investment, and essential services if the government tried to pay it down.

ENEE has scheduled power outages for maintenance on July 17 in several zones nationwide; specific times and affected areas are listed on the utility's website.

Tegucigalpa's mayor says the Papa Francisco bridge at the exit toward Mateo village will not open until experts confirm it is safe, with an inspection set for this week.

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

The Agriculture Ministry will spend 140 million lempiras (about $5.6 million) to rehabilitate irrigation districts, improving water efficiency and boosting crop production across 12,000 hectares to help farmers cope with a changing climate.

The Infrastructure Ministry is clearing vegetation along the road between Cane and El Bache in the La Paz–Intibucá corridor to improve visibility, safety, and conditions for travelers on the key route.

Energy Minister Eduardo Oviedo says the state power utility needs at least $6 billion over the coming years to improve service and cut losses, and he expects Congress to pass the necessary reforms when lawmakers return.

A civil-society group is calling for the proceeds from the sale of the presidential aircraft—more than L137 million (about $5.5 million)—to be spent on medicines and hospital upgrades to ease shortages in the public health system.

The president of the Medical College says public hospitals are canceling operations for lack of sterile surgical supplies, sutures, and lab reagents—a crisis wider than the fentanyl shortage—while questioning the government's tally of emergency surgeries carried out in private centers.

Under a January agreement with the government, Fundesur Honduras has distributed $6 million in medicines across six departments, reaching more than 122,000 Hondurans at public health facilities.

A severe drought has driven Tegucigalpa's two main reservoirs to critical levels—Los Laureles at 39.88% of capacity and La Concepción at 35.19%—prompting tighter rationing for 1.6 million people and warnings that reserves could run dry by late August without significant rain.

Also reported by: Radio América, Radio América Honduras

Honduras's disaster agency is coordinating damage assessments and pre-positioning humanitarian aid for communities in the Moskitia region of Gracias a Dios hit by heavy rains, though deliveries are difficult because of the terrain and weather.

A lawyer was shot and killed inside his vehicle in Esparta, in the department of Atlántida.

Honduras's national human-rights ombudsman cited an average of 29 violent deaths of women a month over 24 years and warned that tougher penalties alone cannot stop gender violence without stronger investigations, prevention policies, and institutional safeguards for vulnerable women and girls.

Police arrested José Efraín Armijo after an 11-year-old boy was killed with a machete in Balfate, Colón, on Sunday; the suspect confessed and has a prior record of violence, authorities say.

Also reported by: Radio HRN, Policía Nacional de Honduras

Honduras's human-rights ombudsman reported rising child homicides, teen pregnancies, sexual abuse, gang recruitment, forced displacement, and child labor, blaming the crisis on state failures in protection and enforcement and calling for stronger institutions.