Wednesday, August 5, 2026

The Public Ministry has charged former Libre congressman Bartolo Fuentes with assaulting Kathia Crivelli, now deputy minister of human rights, in a May 2025 incident in Congress; an initial hearing is set for August 14.

Also reported by: Radio Cadena Voces (RCV)

Prosecutors have opened a new investigation into Ninfa Suyapa Flores, former director of the National Institute for Juvenile Offenders, over alleged irregularities in food procurement at the agency, adding to charges of abuse of authority, fraud, and workplace harassment.

Also reported by: Radio Cadena Voces (RCV)

Congress president Tomás Zambrano said lawmakers have approved the Law for Protection of the Agroindustrial Sector and financing measures for palm producers, answering their calls for legal certainty and enforcement against land invasions.

A 14-member Honduran delegation of government and private-sector officials is in Israel to study water management, drip irrigation, and dairy-production technology to address El Niño drought impacts, following President Nasry Asfura's January visit to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Central Bank of Honduras auctioned $96.2 million in its August 3 currency sale, setting the weighted average exchange rate at L26.8003 per dollar for August 4.

The National Chamber of Tourism is pushing to reform Honduras's part-time employment law, which caps hours at 18 to 32 per week and limits hiring for seasonal peaks, when hotels and restaurants need the most flexibility.

Tegucigalpa's city government has opened a temporary right-turn lane for light vehicles between Florencia Norte and Boulevard Suyapa to ease traffic while excavation continues on the Florencia Tunnel, with restricted hours and a ban on heavy trucks.

Also reported by: Once Noticias

The municipality of Catacamas in Olancho has declared an emergency after logging more than 400 dengue cases over more than 20 weeks, with the local hospital overwhelmed and unable to handle other medical emergencies.

Also reported by: Radio Cadena Voces (RCV)

The Health Ministry says it has performed more than 4,000 surgeries in six months and spent roughly 160 million lempiras (about $6.4 million) on medicines and supplies as part of efforts to clear surgical backlogs and improve hospital care nationwide.

The emergency agency Copeco has placed 75 municipalities under yellow alert and 48 under green alert as the dry season deepens the drought, with about one million people facing direct effects including crop losses and water shortages.

Honduras's 2026 school calendar sets student evaluations throughout August, with the first breaks coming in September for Independence Day (September 16) and Teachers' Day (September 17), followed by the Morazánica Week holiday starting September 28.

Olancho FC beat Estrella Roja 1-0 on August 2 in the opening match of the Apertura 2026 tournament, with Marlon Ramírez scoring the decisive goal to spoil the debut of the newly promoted Danlí club.

Panama beat Honduras 4-0 in the Concacaf pre-Olympic tournament in Puebla, Mexico, advancing to the quarterfinals.

Honduras's National Penitentiary Institute will pilot electronic wallets in prisons to replace cash in inmate canteens, following an alleged embezzlement of 8 million lempiras (about $320,000) at Támara prison.

Interpol has formally taken up the case of Genesis María Ortiz Ramírez, 11, who disappeared on July 22 from San Pedro Sula's Nuevos Horizontes neighborhood, extending the investigation beyond Honduras's borders.

Gloria Marina López Pineda, accused of fatally stabbing her newborn daughter in May 2025 in San Pedro Sula, will stand trial October 19-21; prosecutors presented 16 pieces of evidence, including DNA tests and an autopsy showing stab wounds.

Joseph David Vuelto, a 16-year-old fisherman, remains missing in the Caribbean Sea after disappearing during a fishing trip from Corozal toward Cayos Cochinos; family members, local fishermen, and volunteers are still searching the coast even though the official maritime rescue period has ended.

Congress President Tomás Zambrano said privatizing the national electricity company ENEE is entirely off the table, and that the proposed energy-law reforms are meant instead to stabilize the utility's finances and end the country's power crisis.

The National Migration Institute has fixed a system update that briefly halted passport issuance and renewals at its San Pedro Sula office on August 4, and normal operations have resumed.

The attorney general's office said it will ask an August 12 hearing to jail former president Juan Orlando Hernández pending trial, arguing he could tamper with evidence and alleging that L169 million ($6.8 million) in public funds was funneled into political campaigning.

President Asfura said the new energy legislation would let large businesses and industries buy power directly from generators rather than rely solely on the state, a move meant to cut costs and draw investment.

The Central Bank of Honduras forecasts full-year 2026 GDP growth of 3 to 4 percent, driven by agricultural exports and household spending, though the outlook hinges on global oil and coffee prices and international trade tensions.

Tegucigalpa's Municipal Cadastre office has run out of the security paper needed to issue property-value certificates, stalling real-estate deals that banks require the documents to close.

Honduras's international reserves climbed $1.26 billion to $11.56 billion in the first half of 2026, a gain President Asfura attributes to fiscal discipline and responsible management of public resources.

Honduran cacao is winning international buyers, with Switzerland and the United States among the largest; Allen González, founder of Avenida Cacao, says making better use of trade agreements could lift chocolate exports and create jobs for rural farmers and small processors.

Crews are building a retaining wall and repaving a 25-meter stretch of the anillo periférico (ring road) in Tegucigalpa's Venecia neighborhood to head off sinkholes caused by water erosion and make the road safer.

Honduras's child-welfare agency, Senaf, has recorded 62 pregnancies among girls and adolescents so far in 2026 that it attributes to sexual violence, warning that many victims never report the abuse or seek help.

Heavy overnight rain in Tela, Atlántida, led firefighters to evacuate a family as a precaution against flooding, while collapsed storm drains and drainage systems clogged with debris kept the risk high.

A record-strength El Niño will suppress tropical cyclone formation in the Atlantic and Caribbean during the peak hurricane season (August 15–October 15) through stronger wind shear and Saharan dust, though experts warn some storms could still form, particularly in late August and mid-October.

Roatán's municipal tourism office held a second training session for more than 60 street vendors and tour operators on customer service, environmental practices, and visitor engagement under its Destination Hosts Program.

The Bay Islands held a departmental drawing competition that chose student representatives from Roatán, Utila, Guanaja, and Santos Guardiola to compete in the national contest, with backing from local education and cultural institutions.

Harold Ulloa Ramos, 17, was abducted by two men on motorcycles near Santa Rita, Yoro, on August 3 and found beheaded the next morning, his head left on a roadside and his body discovered separately.

Also reported by: La Prensa

The prosecutor's office has appealed a judge's decision to ease the pretrial detention of Mario Carbajal, an evangelical pastor accused of eight sexual offenses against three minors.

A string of high-profile child murders, including that of 9-year-old Emily Dayana Muñoz, has renewed demands to strengthen search protocols for missing minors and update child-protection laws; experts point to data showing a child dies violently every 43 hours in Honduras.