Wednesday, August 5, 2026 — Evening Edition

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.