Friday, October 2, 2026

Although Honduras requires that 40% of electoral candidates be women, only 38 of the 128 lawmakers elected in November 2025 are women (29.7%), a gap the UN Development Programme blames on parties placing female candidates in unwinnable positions.

Honduras's proposed 2027 budget would classify spending by Congress, the Presidential Office and the national sports commission (Condepor) as reserved information, in violation of the transparency and access-to-information law.

Honduras's current account ran a $109.2 million surplus in the second quarter of 2026, lifting the first-half total to $843.3 million, which the central bank says let the country build foreign reserves and cut external debt.

Women coffee growers from five Honduran departments made their first direct international export in September through the National Network of Women Coffee Growers, a pilot that taught participants the commercial, operational and paperwork requirements for selling abroad.

The head of Honduras's taxi association said lawmakers offered no response to the industry's demands for relief from high fuel prices after a meeting at Congress.

Honduras's annual inflation reached 6.2% through August 2026, with food prices up 5.57%, prompting the central bank to lift its monetary policy rate to 6.0% on September 21 to rein in prices.

Honduras's public external debt stood at $10.77 billion in June 2026, equal to 26.3% of GDP and down 0.8 percentage points from December 2025, with the general government accounting for 87.5% of the total.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tegucigalpa and the government's Results Management Office signed an agreement to roll out advanced electronic signatures nationwide, aiming to simplify corporate paperwork, cut processing times and costs, and modernize dealings between the state and business.

Economists debated whether Honduras should cut or scrap fuel taxes—which raise roughly L14 billion (about $560 million) a year, or 7.5% of state tax revenue—to ease inflation and household costs, though analysts warned the move would require immediate budget reforms or alternative funding.

Also reported by: HCH

A U.S. State Department report finds Honduras has clear investment advantages—proximity to the United States, CAFTA-DR trade access and more than 200 American companies operating there—but says high electricity costs, logistics gaps, corruption and legal uncertainty still deter expansion.

Ana Belinda Valenzuela, commissioner of Honduras's land-transport institute, said meetings at the Energy Ministry will continue to examine how fuel prices are calculated in the country.

COHEP took part in the launch of the Skills Passport, an ILO and CINTERFOR program that allows mutual recognition of labor certifications across Latin America and the Caribbean to boost worker mobility and regional competitiveness.

The government has received new John Deere machinery at Port Henecán to distribute among Honduras's 298 municipalities, giving priority to drought-hit and farming areas, to support local infrastructure, road maintenance and production.

Also reported by: Radio América Honduras

The Armed Forces' Humanitarian and Rescue Battalion is clearing roads and helping residents in Tegucigalpa neighborhoods including La Cañada and Los Hidalgos after recent heavy rains.

President Asfura said the government is considering buying an already-operating hospital to move outpatient and emergency services out of the overcrowded Hospital Escuela, Honduras's main public medical center.

The Honduran Social Security Institute will close outpatient clinics nationwide from October 5 to 9 for Morazán Week, but emergency departments at specialty and northern regional hospitals and dialysis units will stay open with rotating staff.

The head of Honduras's nursing association says the government has stalled on rehiring nurses and made unjustified reassignments, and has set October 12 as a deadline for concrete answers on its labor demands, citing a three-month legal window before complaints expire.

Hospital Escuela's blood bank will accept donations from October 5 to 9, staying open through the Morazán Week holiday.

Community leaders in Puerto Cortés want authorities to revoke the environmental license and mining rights of Agregados del Caribe (Agrecasa) over irreversible damage to water sources, air quality and public health documented in state agency reports.

Honduras's private-sector workers will get a four-day break from noon October 7 to noon October 10 for Morazán Week, an annual civic holiday that combines three October commemorations under a 2015 law.

Concacaf fined Honduran club Marathón $6,400 (166,400 lempiras) for lighting and internet failures at its Francisco Morazán stadium, fan misconduct and unauthorized player advertising during a Copa Centroamericana quarterfinal against Alajuelense on September 10.

A month after former Olimpia player Kenny Martínez Webster, 22, was shot dead in Punta Gorda on September 1, his family is pressing authorities to arrest two more suspects; one suspect, identified as a relative, is already in pretrial detention.

Also reported by: Diez, Radio América Honduras

A man and woman riding a motorcycle were shot and killed on October 1 near Tatumbla in Francisco Morazán; police said attackers on another motorcycle opened fire from a darkened stretch of road with no security cameras.

Police arrested Johana Michel Flores Alvarenga, alias "Ratoncita," the partner of the alleged national leader of the 18th Street Gang, along with two other suspects, seizing an AR-15, marijuana and phones from a Chamelecón home.

Also reported by: Radio HRN