Saturday, August 8, 2026

Constitutional Court Justice Sonia Dubón criticized what she called selective justice in the Supreme Court's handling of former President Juan Orlando Hernández's Pandora II case, after a judge decided on August 3 to swap his pretrial detention for alternative measures.

Journalist Rodrigo Wong Arévalo responded to charges against former military commander Roosevelt Hernández over alleged attacks on press freedom and election officials, arguing that press criticism is protected speech and that Hernández defied constitutional mandates.

A lawyer for three journalists in the case against retired general Roosevelt Hernández challenged the court's rescheduling of a pretrial hearing, saying the judiciary's communications office announced the change to the media before formally notifying the parties.

Honduras's state television channel spent more than two hours on August 5 promoting Próspera, a special economic zone (ZEDE) that the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in September 2024 and that Garífuna leaders say threatens their ancestral lands.

Honduras's banking regulator (CNBS) announced an August review of state agricultural bank Banadesa to examine its loan portfolio, use of public funds, and operational controls, citing suspected irregularities in credits approved under previous administrations.

A carton of 30 eggs rose by 6 lempiras (about $0.24) at Tegucigalpa's farmers' market, deepening consumer worries over repeated price hikes on basic food staples.

The Central Bank set Friday's official exchange rate at 26.8141 lempiras per dollar for buying and 26.9482 for selling, a slight uptick that directly affects import costs, consumer prices, and the value of remittances Honduran families receive.

Congress approved two loans worth $225 million from the World Bank's International Development Association and the Inter-American Development Bank to shore up public finances and the national budget, at low interest rates and with long repayment periods.

Honduras's shrimp producers face mounting losses from drought-driven higher salinity in ponds, production costs up 15–18%, and depressed international prices made worse by Ecuadorian oversupply, threatening jobs in the southern region.

Tegucigalpa's San José Reservoir, a key water-supply project for the capital's Kennedy neighborhood and surrounding areas serving roughly 350,000 residents, is 46% built and set for completion in the first quarter of 2028, officials said.

A Honduran man hospitalized in Mexico with second- and third-degree burns from an apartment fire is asking the public for financial help to cover specialized treatment and ongoing care.

Honduras's Cacao Ecotourism Route (RETCACAOH) links family-run cacao farms, nature reserves, and tourism parks nationwide where visitors can learn chocolate-making from harvest to finished product, as the government and farmers seek to diversify rural incomes through sustainable agritourism.

Honduran winger Cristian Sacaza is reportedly set to join Juticalpa FC for the 2026 Apertura season, with the deal agreed in principle pending an official announcement, after leaving Marathon amid a contract dispute over an unauthorized absence from training.

Honduras's Liga Nacional continues its Apertura 2026–27 tournament on August 8–9 with six matches, including Jornada 1 winners Motagua, Real España, Olimpia, Génesis, Marathón, and Olancho FC all back in action.

Rodrigo de Olivera's goal gave Motagua a 1–0 win over El Salvador's FAS in the second group stage of the Central American Cup, lifting the Honduran club to the top of its group with six points.

A man was fatally attacked with a blade and set on fire on the CA-11 highway near Belén, Lempira; authorities recovered the charred body and sent it for forensic identification.

A medical examiner testified on the third day of a retrial that nursing student Keyla Martínez, who died in police custody in 2021, died of mechanical asphyxiation, contradicting the accused officer's claim that she took her own life.

Authorities rescued a 12-year-old girl from a billiards hall in Tepanguare, La Paz, after she was forced to work there and allegedly abused by customers and a family associate with her grandparents' knowledge; both grandparents were arrested.

Magistrate Mario Díaz denied that he and fellow magistrate Sonia Marlina Dubón pressured a trial judge to reschedule hearings in the Roosevelt Hernández case, insisting judges are independent and that he has never interfered with their schedules.

Also reported by: La Prensa, HCH

The investigation into former Congress President Luis Redondo and members of the Permanent Commission moves forward Friday with a court hearing to swear in an expert witness who will analyze a disputed January 8 session.

BCH president Roberto Lagos expects inflation to keep easing to about 5.5% in August from nearly 6%, while international reserves hit a record $11.7 billion, enough to cover seven months of imports and shore up financial stability.

Honduras's banking system is steering resources into longer-term domestic financial instruments, a sign of a more structural approach to investment.

With FAO support, Honduras unveiled a 2026–2030 strategy of farm incentives meant to draw investment, create jobs, bring in technology, and boost competitiveness in a sector that accounts for 13% of GDP and more than a third of exports.

State institutions have run up more than 20 billion lempiras (roughly $800 million) in unpaid electricity bills to ENEE, much of it dating back over 15 years; the utility is auditing its accounts receivable while also contending with 34% energy losses driven partly by theft.

Congress authorized 371 construction and oversight contracts worth L2.4 billion (about $96 million) to restart stalled education, road, and water-supply projects across 40 municipalities, most of them halted under the previous administration.

Residents of the Tres Caminos neighborhood in Tegucigalpa said a drinking-water main broke Wednesday afternoon and stayed unrepaired for more than 12 hours, with the municipal water authority saying no crew was available to respond despite the waste amid citywide rationing.

The Infrastructure Ministry will spend L19.1 million (roughly $765,000) to repair the Juan Manuel Gálvez overpass, which collapsed in April 2025 under overweight machinery, though no one has been held accountable and competing reports blame either design flaws or overloaded traffic.

Crews are pressing ahead on a 140-meter bridge over the Uyuca fault along the CA-6 Eastern Corridor, focusing on foundation and drainage work; the project is expected to improve safety and connectivity between Tegucigalpa and Danlí and to create more than 250 jobs.

San Pedro Sula produces roughly 1,100 tons of solid waste a day, and a breakdown in trash collection is letting much of it wash into the Chamelecón, Piedras, Bermejo, and Blanco rivers and stormwater canals, heightening flood and public-health risks as the rainy season drags on.

San Pedro Copán, named Honduras's cleanest town, built a community-wide waste-separation program in 2010 that turns organic refuse into compost for school and family gardens.

Honduran midfielder Joseph Rosales scored in the 16th minute against Club Tijuana, giving Austin FC its first goal of the 2026 Leagues Cup after a well-timed run onto a pass from Myrto Uzuni.

Real España got two key players back—forward Eddie Hernández from injury and midfielder Nixon Cruz from suspension—ahead of Saturday's second-round match against Génesis FC in the Apertura tournament.

A Honduran man and five others from Cuba and Ecuador were deported without notice to the Central African Republic and are now appealing from Bangui to Florida lawmakers for help, saying their rights were violated.

Guatemalan authorities are investigating whether hitmen from Honduras crossed the border to kill Edgar Estuardo Cáceres Barreira, a convicted drug trafficker who had served time in the US and returned to Guatemala.

Social-media videos and posts from Brayan Wilfredo Salgado Ruiz, one of six people killed in an August 4 massacre in Olanchito, Yoro, have drawn widespread comment as police pursue what they preliminarily suspect was a dispute between criminal organizations over illicit activity in the area.

Police arrested Jhoel Salomón Pineda García, 31, known as "El Peludo," a suspect in a Yoro kidnapping in which the captors demanded three million lempiras (about $120,000).