Sunday, July 26, 2026 — Morning Edition

Five months after the Attorney General's office submitted a draft to modernize Honduras's public-contracting rules—with digital tools, certified suppliers, and tighter controls—Congress says it has yet to receive the formal government version it needs to begin its review.

The Association of Petroleum Product Distributors (Ahdippe) urged lawmakers to study the energy-system reform more carefully, citing concerns over technical losses, ENEE debt recovery, and accountability before the bill moves ahead.

Honduras's National Electoral Council has received a proposal from former electoral officials to amend several articles of the Electoral Law, and interim CNE president Aixa Gabriela Zelaya said the full council will review the changes as part of efforts to strengthen democratic processes.

Authorities in San Pedro Sula will begin enforcing a 600-lempira (about $24) fine against drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians at marked crosswalks, a Traffic Law violation officials say is routinely ignored.

Honduras's basic food basket rose from L14,500 to L16,000 between December 2025 and July 2026, according to Artículo 19, with meat, dairy, beans, and vegetables driving the increase and squeezing household budgets.

Also reported by: Infobae – Honduras

Honduras deposited its ratification of the ICSID convention on July 17, becoming the 159th state to join the World Bank's mechanism for settling foreign-investment disputes, effective August 16.

Also reported by: Once Noticias

The Trump administration said it will keep a 10% tariff on goods from Honduras and 59 other countries, citing insufficient efforts to prevent forced labor in their exports.

Also reported by: TuNota (Canal 5 / TSI)

Honduras has recorded 17 deaths from whooping cough so far in 2026, more than double the eight in all of 2025, with infants and young children hit hardest by the outbreak, health authorities say.

A medical brigade in Juticalpa, Olancho, treated roughly 6,200 patients in a single day.

Social Security patients are paying L3,000 to L6,000 a month (about $120 to $240) out of pocket for medications and supplies because of treatment delays, with chronic and cancer patients hardest hit by administrative backlogs and shortages.

A marathon in Tegucigalpa on July 26 from 5:30 to 8:00 a.m. will bring temporary traffic changes across several areas, though no full street closures, and authorities are urging drivers to expect delays and use caution.

Miguel "Hino" Mathews, a prolific striker who became a legend of Honduran soccer in the 1980s with Real España and Motagua and played for the national team, died of sudden cardiac arrest in San Pedro Sula on July 25.

INTERPOL Honduras arrested and deported an Ecuadorian citizen wanted by US authorities on charges of aggravated vehicular homicide after he was detained trying to enter the country illegally at the Las Manos border crossing.

Javier Rodolfo Chávez, 44, of Villanueva in Cortés, drowned in Lake Yojoa when a sudden storm whipped up waves that swamped the small fishing boat he and friends were in.

Police arrested a 68-year-old security guard and a 20-year-old mason in the machete killing of Eliezer Isaías Cruz in Roatán on July 24, and investigators say at least five other suspects remain at large.

Génesis María Ortiz Ramírez, 11, vanished from her home in San Pedro Sula's Nuevos Horizontes neighborhood early on July 25; her family says she did not leave willingly and is asking the public for help finding her.