Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Congress started briefing all five party caucuses and mayors' associations on a proposed investment law that would attract capital for hospitals, ports, infrastructure, and other projects by guaranteeing legal certainty and property rights.

A San Pedro Sula court set a November 30–December 3 retrial for former mayor Oscar Eduardo Kilgore López on charges of illicit enrichment.

Próspera BioHUB signed a partnership with Merck Life Science as researchers from Stanford, Harvard, Navarra, and UNAH gathered for Honduras's First International Medical Encounter.

Honduras's net international reserves hit $1.165 billion as of July 24, up from January 27, with import coverage holding steady at 6.6 months.

Cheetah Research AI, an artificial-intelligence research tool built by the Honduran firm Marketing Total, was chosen by Greenbook to showcase at its 2026 Insights Tech Summit, a nod to Honduras-based innovation competing at international standards.

Honduras's banking regulator has ordered banks to equip affiliated merchants with mobile point-of-sale terminals so they can accept credit and debit card payments in person.

Congress approved a decree drawing on the 2027 budget to pave a one-kilometer concrete road linking the El Zapotal and Ciudad Jaraguá boulevards in San Pedro Sula, along with supporting infrastructure for durability and safety.

President Asfura laid out infrastructure priorities for the Atlantic region, including a rehabilitation of the CA-13 highway (backed by $180 million from the World Bank and Spain), an expansion of the La Barca–Tela route, and an upgrade of Guillermo Anderson Airport to improve connectivity and draw investment.

Honduras's Health Ministry announced a major investment to upgrade Hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa and Hospital Mario Catarino Rivas in San Pedro Sula, adding operating rooms, medical equipment, and specialized facilities for kidney transplants and other advanced procedures.

A congressman introduced legislation to reforest the Choluteca River basin, declare it a single system in need of coordinated conservation, and ban new logging and land-conversion permits in riverside and protected areas, aiming to ease the drought and flooding that hit southern Honduras.

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck off Central America's Pacific coast at a depth of 37 kilometers on the night of July 28, with Honduras's emergency agency COPECO tracking the seismic activity.

Exon Arzú, a 22-year-old right winger from Real España, has signed a three-year deal with Venezuelan league champion Carabobo FC and will play in the 2027 Copa Libertadores.

Honduras lost 2–1 to Jamaica in its opening match of the Concacaf Under-20 World Cup qualifier, with Víctor Salazar scoring for the Mini H before Jamaica's quick attacks decided it late.

Police arrested a woman suspected of negligent homicide and negligent injury after a traffic accident in Taulabé.

Police arrested a 20-year-old suspected MS-13 member accused of selling cocaine, marijuana, and crack in El Progreso, Yoro, seizing drugs and a cellphone.

Prosecutors asked for a seven-year prison sentence for Luis Francisco Núñez Santos, convicted of transporting drugs, at a sentencing hearing in San Pedro Sula.

A poll shows 55.3% of Hondurans disapprove of President Trump's pardon of former president Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted in New York in 2024 on drug-trafficking and weapons charges and returned to Honduras on July 26.

Also reported by: Radio América Honduras

Honduras's National Institute of Statistics will begin its National Population and Housing Census on August 10 in the Bay Islands, where a municipal committee has been formed to coordinate with local institutions and encourage public participation.

The Central Bank of Honduras sold $117.6 million at its foreign-exchange auction on July 28, setting the weighted average exchange rate at L26.7902 per US dollar for July 29.

Honduras has spent about 950 million lempiras ($38 million) on fuel and electricity subsidies through mid-2026, overshooting the original budget and prompting officials to consider limiting the benefit to lower-income families.

The state power utility is losing L40 million a day (about $1.6 million) as Congress stalls on an energy-law overhaul that officials say is needed to improve efficiency, attract investment, and curb the company's mounting debt.

Also reported by: Radio América Honduras

Congressman Hugo Noé Pino of the Libre party warned that the El Niño drought's damage to food production will push inflation above 5% in the second half of 2026, and called for contingency plans to protect food security in the hardest-hit regions.

The Honduran Institute of Transport will offer heavy-equipment driver certification classes on Roatán next weekend, letting tourism and transport workers get licensed without traveling to the mainland at an estimated cost of L30,000–L35,000 (about $1,200–$1,400) for travel and lodging.

Public hospitals across Honduras are canceling scheduled surgeries amid shortages of essential anesthetics such as midazolam, fentanilo, and propofol, five months after Congress approved a health emergency and a 500-million-lempira (about $20 million) trust fund to clear the surgical backlog.

The Honduran Foundation for Children with Cancer plans to build a pediatric oncology clinic at the Southern Hospital in Choluteca, with backing from Congress, so children in the southern region can be treated without traveling to Tegucigalpa.

Honduras has recorded 6,218 dengue cases nationwide through epidemiological week 29 in late July, according to the Health Ministry's surveillance unit.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization warns that 150,839 farm households—mostly in drought-stricken areas including Santa Bárbara, Choluteca, and Lempira, plus flood-prone Cortés—will need emergency aid this year because of droughts, floods, lost crops, and livestock disease.

The US Department of Agriculture will provide $40 million over six years to bolster Honduras's national school-feeding program, reaching about 96,000 children in 2,000 public schools in remote parts of La Paz and Intibucá departments.

Congress unanimously approved a motion requiring the Public Prosecutor's office and police to report to lawmakers on how they handle complaints of sexual assault, rape, and harassment of children in schools, citing numerous reports of abuse.

Also reported by: Radio América Honduras

Honduras's weather authority warns that the rain expected in August will not be enough to restore the soil moisture farmers need for planting, especially in vulnerable regions.

A prolonged drought in Soledad, El Paraíso, has destroyed crops twice since April, leaving 4,000 to 5,000 residents at risk of hunger and prompting the mayor to seek emergency humanitarian aid.

Cenaos says a tropical wave and Pacific moisture will bring scattered light showers to southern and southwestern Honduras on Tuesday, July 28, while the north, center, and the departments of Olancho and Colón may see brief showers by late afternoon, with the dry season's canícula keeping all rainfall weak and intermittent.

Honduras's under-20 team plays Canada on July 29 in Puebla, needing at least a draw to stay alive in the Concacaf Premundial after a 2–1 loss to Jamaica in its opener.

Olimpia pushed its season opener against Lobos UPNFM from August 1 to August 2 at 7:30 p.m. because the José de la Paz Herrera stadium was booked for a Honduras TikTokers exhibition match.

A court in San Pedro Sula convicted José Francisco Estrada Rodríguez of the serious negligent injury of two women, Rosana Mejia and Ashlin de los Ángeles Ferrera Castillo, with sentencing set for August 12.

Six severely burned victims of a fire in Esquipulas, San Pedro Sula, that killed a family of seven are undergoing forensic identification at the morgue, with authorities warning the process will be slow given the extent of the burns and the need for dental records and possibly DNA testing.

Also reported by: Radio Cadena Voces (RCV), Once Noticias, HCH, Radio América Honduras

A National Court judge suspended fast-track proceedings against Gloria Judith Hernández Zelaya after she retracted her statement in court in a case involving organized crime, environmental, and corruption charges.

The Attorney General's Office and its financial crimes unit arrested a member of a Colombian-Venezuelan ATM-fraud network in San Pedro Sula and seized 500,000 lempiras (about $20,000) in cash.