Friday, July 24, 2026 — Morning Edition

Congresswoman Alia Kafati introduced a bill to let Honduran presidents seek reelection only once, barring them from running again after two full terms, in an effort to close a legal gap open since 2015.

The Court of Appeals confirmed the final dismissal of former president Porfirio Lobo in the Pandora II graft case, even as the prosecution of former president Juan Orlando Hernández in the same matter continues.

Also reported by: El Heraldo, El Libertador, HCH, Radio HRN

Congress will dock one day's pay from at least 12 members of the National, Liberal, and Libre parties who skipped a July 23 session without justification, with the money going to schools and health centers.

Honduran PARLACEN member Doris Gutiérrez disclosed that Central American Parliament members earn a monthly salary of L117,000, more than $4,400.

A Libre congresswoman said her party will oppose the electoral law reforms sent to Congress this week unless Libre gains seats on the National Electoral Council and the Electoral Justice Court, arguing it deserves a place as one of the three largest political forces.

The Central Bank of Honduras auctioned $86.8 million in its July 23 foreign-exchange sale, setting the weighted average exchange rate at L 26.7768 per dollar for July 24.

The private-sector business council says Honduras should borrow the $400 million in CAF financing to strengthen the housing bank and spur construction, but opposes taking on debt just to cover government operating costs.

Honduras's central bank says higher net foreign reserves expanded the money supply through currency conversion, but officials have partly offset that by absorbing liquidity from the financial system.

Qarim Qubain, president of the Cortés Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says Congress needs more time to build consensus on the contentious energy reforms, warning that persistent electricity costs are driving business investment away.

Honduras's construction chamber reported that 23 congressionally approved infrastructure projects have stalled over publication delays and proposed an Infrastructure Policy Council to improve coordination and continuity, a model it says has worked in Chile, Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico.

The national utility announced planned outages on July 24 in Francisco Morazán, Olancho, Santa Bárbara, Ocotepeque, and Cortés for scheduled maintenance, with cuts in Tegucigalpa lasting 6 to 8 hours.

The Tegucigalpa city government changed traffic flow at the busy Casamata and El Manchén intersection to ease congestion, improve safety, and address problem points flagged in technical studies, with new signage and driver-education campaigns underway.

Honduras's agricultural health agency has processed 5,312 lab samples and monitored more than 8.5 million birds across 125 farms to detect high-pathogenicity H5 avian influenza, focusing on rural communities and backyard flocks seen as most vulnerable to the virus.

Drought tied to El Niño has led Honduras's disaster agency, COPECO, to place 75 municipalities in the dry corridor under an indefinite yellow alert, while 49 remain on green alert and 113 are under monitoring for reduced rainfall across six departments.

The Judicial School held a national gathering of judges who specialize in organized crime, environmental, and corruption cases, aimed at strengthening the courts and the rule of law with support from the US Embassy's International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Bureau.

The National Autonomous University of Honduras has finished renovating the Dr. Jorge Haddad auditorium at its Faculty of Medical Sciences, spending 18.7 million lempiras, about $750,000, to modernize the 220-seat venue for academic and scientific conferences.

The Pedro Nufio teacher-training school is among 58 institutions taking part in the Judicial Branch's Legal Education in Human Rights program, which has trained 374 teachers to promote civic education and a culture of peace.

Special Olympics Honduras, which now operates in eight locations nationwide, plans to open three more sites and is recruiting volunteers and corporate sponsors to expand sports and inclusion programs for people with intellectual disabilities.

Honduras took in 23,952 deported nationals between January and June 2026, a 40% jump from the same period in 2025, while irregular migrant transit through the country fell 74%, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Also reported by: Radio América Honduras

Luane Morazán Castillo, 23 and six months pregnant, disappeared on April 19, 2023, after telling her husband she was going out to buy dinner and never returning; police have made little public progress on the case, which reflects a broader crisis of missing women in Honduras.

A Honduran woman reported a scam that used artificial intelligence to impersonate content creator Carlos Eduardo Espina in a fake video call demanding thousands of dollars by claiming a relative had been detained.

Authorities in Catacamas arrested a woman during a raid and seized six firearms, cash, and other evidence from her home.

Also reported by: HCH, Policía Nacional de Honduras

A 2005 US federal court document laid out a network of Honduran National Police officers, ranging from inspector to subcommissioner, accused of using their positions to protect cocaine shipments for Los Cachiros, one of the Atlantic region's most powerful criminal organizations.