Thursday, August 13, 2026 — Evening Edition

An attorney on Thursday asked Honduras's Constitutional Court to enforce Article 374 of the constitution, which bars any change to the term-limit rule in Article 239 that prohibits anyone who has served as president from running again.

Jorge Cálix, the Liberal Party's congressional leader, introduced a bill and a criminal-code reform to impose prison terms on those who steal power from the state utility ENEE.

Tegucigalpa's city government and national police cleared street vendors and informal merchants from the sidewalks of Third Avenue in Comayagüela, aiming to restore pedestrian access and keep buses in the right lane.

Journalist Héctor Ordóñez has replaced José Argueta as the government's communications secretary, after Argueta was quietly suspended some six months into the job amid questions about the administration's messaging strategy.

A member of Congress takes home roughly L140,000 (about $5,600) a month in salary and mobility allowances—more than nine times Honduras's average 2026 minimum wage—plus extra pay for leadership posts.

The initial hearing in the fraud and money-laundering case against former president Juan Orlando Hernández was set to begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday, judiciary spokesman Carlos Silva said.

An internal investigation is examining whether a former secretary general of the judiciary improperly influenced which appeals courts were assigned high-impact cases, including one against former congressman Nelson Márquez, now a deputy minister.

The European Union will provide 8 million euros (about $9.2 million) to support Honduras's electricity reforms and draw further energy investment, while widening civil-society participation in its cooperation projects.

José Castañeda, president of Honduras's small and medium enterprise federation, says weak domestic production and outdated economic policies—not Chinese immigrants—are the real barriers to Honduran competitiveness, as Congress investigates the entry of roughly 13,000 Asian citizens since 2022.

Honduras's Hospital Escuela will open six new operating rooms starting in October, raising daily surgeries from about 60 to between 100 and 150 as part of a wider effort to strengthen the public health system.

Tegucigalpa's city government is offering free veterinary care for cats over five years old from August 18 to 20, with 30 slots available and a focus on early detection of kidney disease.

Copeco's early-warning chief says the south and west are Honduras's most seismically vulnerable regions and warns that a major earthquake is "very likely" given the country's position on two tectonic plates.

A lightning strike killed one person and injured another in La Ceiba's Alvarado neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon as they sheltered under wooden structures during a heavy storm; the injured person was taken to Hospital General Atlántida.

Sports analyst Jacobo Hernández Romero warned that Honduras's National Stadium needs constant preventive maintenance to avoid the decay that has plagued the Metropolitan Olympic Stadium in San Pedro Sula, citing lessons from the 2026 World Cup's economic impact.

Congress passed reforms to streamline repatriation by setting up a single coordinating office where Hondurans can handle customs, immigration, and vehicle-registration procedures at once instead of visiting several agencies.

Police said they found no bodies or evidence to back reports of three killings in El Cinco, Bonito Oriental, Colón, on August 10, and received no emergency calls about the incident.

Daniel Meraz was sentenced to 18 years and 9 months in prison after admitting to the aggravated femicide of his ex-partner, nurse Elvia Mercedes Gómez López, 30, who died on June 3 in San Manuel, Cortés.

The animal-rights group PETA asked Honduras's attorney general to fully investigate an August 1 incident in Choloma in which a man dragged a dog behind a truck, citing research linking animal cruelty to other forms of violence.