Saturday, September 26, 2026

Congress opened its first regional office in San Pedro Sula, where representatives from all four political parties in Cortés will serve constituents and municipal officials without requiring a trip to Tegucigalpa.

Congress President Tomás Zambrano proposed a reform that would let funds seized from organized crime pay for police, prosecutors, courts, and the military even before a final conviction, rather than tying up the money during ongoing trials.

Honduras's campaign-finance watchdog (UFTF) defended a 146.4-million-lempira fine against former presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla, saying its month-long investigation found 73.2 million lempiras in undisclosed private donations that were never properly reported.

Also reported by: Once Noticias, Radio América Honduras

Attorney General Pablo Emilio Reyes is asking for a budget increase to L2.9 billion (about $116 million) and roughly two to three times the current 796 prosecutors to bolster the Public Ministry's ability to investigate organized crime and pursue serious offenses.

A technical reform panel handed Honduras's electoral authority (UFTF) proposals to tighten campaign-finance regulation, including an independent budget, autonomy from the electoral council (CNE), merit-based appointments, and a public registry of private donors.

Also reported by: Radio América Honduras

COHEP, Honduras's business council, met with Congress's labor committee to review the Part-Time Employment Law, pressing for technical dialogue to strengthen legal frameworks that encourage investment and formal job creation.

At the UN General Assembly, Honduras and the Global Partnership for Education announced roughly $70 million for 'Toward a More Inclusive Education: Transforming Rural Schools,' a program to widen and improve access to rural schools.

The Central Bank of Honduras auctioned $92.9 million in foreign exchange on September 24, setting a weighted average exchange rate of L26.8931 per dollar for September 25.

The third Honduran Coffee Expo 2026 runs through September 26 in Comayagua, focused on connecting producers, roasters, and retailers through tastings, masterclasses, a business forum, and a competitive filtering championship.

Liberal congressman Jhosy Toscano introduced a proposal to improve drinking-water service in several Cantarranas neighborhoods, which would benefit about 23,000 residents.

Infrastructure Minister Aníbal Ehrler inspected ongoing paving and modernization work on several roads in Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela, including a southern bypass meant to ease congestion and keep heavy traffic out of the city center.

Dr. Mario Javier García Martínez, former director of Forensic Medicine and a specialist in legal and forensic medicine who taught at the National Autonomous University of Honduras, died of a heart attack.

Also reported by: Radio HRN

A walkout by the Honduran Medical Association has canceled roughly 30,000 outpatient consultations at public hospitals in recent weeks, with physicians holding further assemblies on September 25 to press demands over salaries, contracts, and working conditions.

The government announced a renovation and expansion of Siguatepeque's public clinic at a cost of more than 42 million lempiras (about $1.7 million), to be finished in eleven months, with upgrades to emergency, obstetrics, pharmacy, and physical therapy services.

Sargassum coverage in the western Caribbean near Honduras totaled roughly 1.7 million metric tons in August, down from July's peaks but still above historical norms, and the University of South Florida expects it to keep declining in the coming months.

Rains since September 19 have killed three people in Siguatepeque and set off floods, landslides, and sinkholes across Honduras; firefighters are still searching for a driver swept away by the Vallecillo River in Comayagua, while a five-meter sinkhole in Tegucigalpa threatens 14 homes.

A sinkhole up to four meters deep has damaged 12 homes in Tegucigalpa's Kennedy neighborhood, and authorities are weighing a precautionary evacuation of about 55 residents — including elderly people and an infant — pending a technical assessment, with an emergency shelter already prepared.

A caravan of about 300 migrants, mostly from Honduras, crossed into Mexico from Guatemala on September 25, hoping to reach the United States or settle in Mexico and citing economic hardship as their reason for leaving.

Franklin Núñez Palacios, a Honduran content creator known as 'La Tafloo,' was arrested in Houston, Texas, on September 25 and faces a preliminary charge of domestic assault against a family member, with questions about his immigration status and possible deportation.

Also reported by: Radio HRN

A study backed by Spanish development agencies found that forced internal displacement among indigenous and Afro-Honduran populations in Gracias a Dios, Atlántida, Cortés, and Yoro has many causes, including violence, land conflicts, territorial control by criminal groups, and human-rights violations.

Also reported by: Infobae – Honduras

Jymme Omar Gómez Cruz, an active member of Honduras's National Special Forces directorate, died of natural causes early Friday in Tegucigalpa; colleagues and friends remembered him as a devoted officer, skilled footballer, and valued friend.

Honduras's Constitutional Court accepted a constitutional appeal filed on behalf of Scherly Arriaga against prosecutors' refusal to give her access to investigative files in the Permanent Commission case.

Honduran Undersecretary of State Pamela Handal Rivera and El Salvador's Deputy Foreign Minister Adriana Mira signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the two countries' diplomatic institutes.

Former congressman Denis Castro Bobadilla says Honduras has no coherent foreign policy on migration and blames the government for failing to pursue measures that could extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Hondurans in the United States.

Honduras's appellate court upheld a ruling ordering the seizure of $4.2 million tied to a pandemic-era mobile-hospital purchase, funds now held in U.S. bank accounts that the government will seek to recover through international legal assistance once the sentence is final.

Also reported by: Radio HRN, Poder Judicial Honduras, Ministerio Público (X)

Eder Mejía, a member of the Congressional Energy Commission, said the government's electricity-sector reforms—which would forgive debts for users who consume under 200 kWh a month, freeze rates for six months, and regularize illegal connections—are expected to appear in the official gazette next week.

Congressman Carlos Umaña has proposed legislation to keep gamblers and their families from losing property and savings to unchecked betting at casinos and gaming halls, including a voluntary self-exclusion option.

Foreign Minister Mireya Agüero and Seychelles Foreign Minister Barry Faure signed a joint communiqué formally establishing diplomatic relations between the two nations.

A proposal by Liberal congressman Marlon Lara would tighten oversight of the chemical precursors used to make synthetic drugs such as fentanyl, pairing education, monitoring, and penalties to protect young people and national security.

Honduras's traffic authority is weighing whether to outsource the production and printing of driver's licenses to a private company starting in 2027 to ease chronic shortages of plastic, though the DNVT commissioner has not said whether the change would raise fees.

Honduras's campaign-finance authority (UFTF) fined former Liberal presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla L146.4 million (about $5.9 million) for failing to report 21 private donations totaling L73.2 million; Nasralla calls it political persecution, and party leaders deny any role in his campaign finances.

Honduras's maquila exports fell 8.0% year over year through July 2026 to $2.91 billion, dragged down by a $221.3 million drop in textile and apparel sales to the U.S. and fewer electrical-harness shipments, with industry leaders warning of a global trade realignment.

Private-sector credit in Honduras keeps growing, driven mainly by more lending to businesses as the financial system gains liquidity.

Honduras's banking regulator launched a financial-inclusion program for Lenca women in La Paz and Intibucá departments, blending financial education, household budgeting, entrepreneurship, and care-economy training to build economic independence and recognize unpaid care work as central to economic opportunity.

Fosdeh researcher Jorge Henríquez warns that persistent inflation is forcing Honduran families to eat less and worse, switch to cheaper staples, and borrow to cover basic monthly expenses.

Infrastructure officials and local leaders broke ground on about 18 kilometers of new paving toward Salamá in northern Olancho, along with a companion 18.3-kilometer Limones–Puente Quebrada Ulúa stretch that started the same day.

A medical brigade held Friday at Marco Aurelio Soto School in the Oakridge community of Roatán treated about 4,000 patients.

Tegucigalpa's two main reservoirs are projected to recover to 60% capacity at Los Laureles and 40% at La Concepción by the end of the rainy season, but officials warn that rationing will continue through April 2027 to secure supply during the dry months.

Military environmental patrols found about two manzanas of illegally cleared forest near a river in La Masica, Atlántida, and opened an investigation to determine who was responsible.

A bill in the National Congress would introduce Bible reading and moral-values instruction in Honduran public schools through pamphlets stressing respect, service, and family principles, with parental consent required.

Firefighters responded to numerous emergencies across Tegucigalpa on September 24 after intense rainfall, pulling a man from a storm drain, clearing a landslide that blocked the road to Valle de Ángeles, and tackling a sinkhole that threatens about ten homes.

The village of Coyolito in Francisco Morazán has seen a steady exodus of women who moved to Spain for domestic work and elder care, leaving men to run households and raise children while remittances reshape the community's housing and economy.

Keynner Eduardo Santos Meza, a suspect with alleged gang ties, was arrested on September 26 over the March 2026 murder of Darwin Sady Aguilar Centeno, a 31-year-old member of Honduras's LGBTQ+ community, based on security-camera footage.

Edwin Salguero, 35, was shot multiple times by two armed men on motorcycles outside a fast-food restaurant in San Pedro Sula on Saturday; the attackers reportedly fled with about 200,000 lempiras (roughly $8,000) and remain at large.

Also reported by: HCH