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Honduran Court Orders Capture of Former Congress President Redondo

24 October 2026 at 01:24
(FILE) Photo: Contracorriente.

A Honduras’ court issued arrest warrants with international alerts against former Congress president Luis Redondo and former state printing manager Edis Moncada over a parliamentary order for a vote-by-vote recount of the 2025 general election.


A Honduran court ordered the international capture of former National Congress president Luis Redondo and Edis Moncada, former manager of the National Graphic Arts Company, attaching international alerts to both warrants.

The measure took effect after the deadline expired for their voluntary appearance before charges filed by the Public Ministry.

RELATED: Honduras Congress Approves Funds for Maximum-Security Prison

The prosecutorial request names 14 former members of the now-defunct Permanent Commission of the legislative power. The criminal case brought by the Prosecutor’s Office contains 21 charges against the former leadership of that parliamentary body, alleging disturbance of institutional functioning, usurpation of functions and violation of officials’ duties.

#HCHNoticias | En exclusiva HCH le muestra la orden de captura contra el expresidente del Congreso Nacional, Luis Redondo, quien está acusado de dos delitos de violación a los deberes de los funcionarios.
FP pic.twitter.com/EzLfq095Wk

— HCH Televisión Digital (@HCHTelevDigital) October 23, 2026

14 Ex-Members Face Charges

The charges target two central decisions adopted by the legislature. One was the installation and institutionalization of the commission itself. The other was the promulgation of a sovereign decree ordering a vote-by-vote recount of the 2025 general election.

Opposition sectors describe the prosecution as part of a campaign to criminalize officials and mechanisms that flagged irregularities in those elections. The parliamentary order to audit the ballot count challenged the authority of the National Electoral Council and drew the reaction of power groups opposed to democratic control of the vote.

The activation of international alerts and the prosecution of numerous former legislative officials shows, in the view of critics, the use of the punitive apparatus to intimidate state institutions. The case sets a precedent against the power of elected representatives to safeguard the legitimacy and transparency of electoral processes, they argue.

The 2025 elections remain at the center of the dispute. The legislative power had demanded verification of the tally sheets after the vote, a step that conservative sectors rejected. The recount order sought to audit what those lawmakers considered irregularities in the results.

Text reads: “Statement / LIBRE party: Requiring votes to be counted is not a crime! Defending democracy is not a crime! We denounce the political persecution against the deputies of LIBRE Party for demanding that the electoral count be completed and the popular will be respected. The defense of democracy cannot become a reason for persecution. Political persecution will not silence LIBRE or the Honduran people!”

Opposition Denounces Political Persecution

In September, former presidential candidate Rixi Moncada of the Freedom and Refoundation Party (LIBRE), publicly denounced what she called “systematic political persecution and the establishment of a judicial dictatorship” in Honduras.

Moncada questioned decisions by the National Congress and the judiciary that led to the abrupt dismissal of senior constitutional officials. Among those removed were the Attorney General, the President of the Supreme Court, a councilor of the National Electoral Council and a magistrate of the Electoral Justice Tribunal.

She also warned about regulations aimed at mass dismissals of public employees and an energy counter-reform designed to hand over the management of the National Electric Energy Company (ENEE, in Spanish), to banking corporations and private generators.

In her analysis, Moncada linked the parliamentary offensive to impunity rulings handed down by the courts. She highlighted the acquittal of former President Juan Orlando Hernández in the so-called Pandora Case, which investigated the diversion of 282 million lempiras (about 14,252,618 dollars) to parties of the traditional oligarchy of the country.

The international arrest warrants extend the reach of the judicial process beyond Honduran borders. The alerts would allow authorities in other countries to detain the former officials if they travel or are located abroad.

For now, the courts move forward with the charges while the opposition frames the case as retaliation against those who pushed to audit the 2025 vote. The next phase will determine whether the former officials appear before the court, are detained, or contest the prosecution as politically motivated.

Venezuelan Acting President Reviews Progress on U.S. Oil Agreements

24 October 2026 at 03:51
The Acting President noted that the increase in production must be directly reflected in the daily life of Venezuelans. Photo: Venezuelan Presidential Press.

Venezuela’s Acting President, Delcy Rodríguez, inspected progress Friday on a package of 17 oil agreements signed with the United States, as the state of Zulia reported record output of 115,000 barrels per day.


The inspection covered joint projects aimed at extracting crude from national reserves. Eight of the 17 agreements involve the development of so-called green fields, new areas set aside for exploration and exploitation.

“We want to show the country the progress, to make clear that we do not leave things unfinished, that we go further: to action and to production. Once again, Zulia state broke its production record, reaching 115,000 barrels per day today,” Acting President Delcy Rodriguez said.

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Rodriguez added that projections call for closing December at 120,000 barrels. The Acting President framed the tour as proof that the partnership has moved beyond paperwork into concrete output.

The cooperation framework was signed in August through North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP). The 17 strategic agreements target the extraction of 65 million barrels of crude from Venezuela’s reserves.

On maritime infrastructure and logistics, Rodriguez said activity in Zulia will jump from 100 to 900 vessels, an increase of 800% in mobilized capacity. The figure signals a major expansion of port and transport operations tied to the oil sector.

The Acting President also outlined a plan for the progressive creation of jobs driven by industrial activity. Employment will begin in the food sector, continue in ironworks and industrial areas, and later extend to public accounts with the goal of raising working-class incomes.

Rodríguez said the central objective of the alliance is to develop the hydrocarbon industry and consolidate the country’s sovereign position. She stressed that Venezuela seeks to affirm itself as the nation with the largest oil reserves on the planet and to rank among the world’s leading producers and exporters. “We want to show the country the progress of these agreements,” she said.

Benefits For People

Acting President Delcy Rodriguez insisted that rising production must translate directly into the welfare of the population. Following this, she pointed to concrete areas where the gains should appear: “In the daily life of Venezuelan men and women: in pay for workers, in health, public hospitals, schools, food, roads, water and public services. That is where Venezuela’s development goes,” she said.

The comments link oil revenue to social spending at a time when the government has promised greater transparency over hydrocarbon and mining income. The Acting President’s emphasis on hospitals, schools and food echoes longstanding official messaging that resource wealth should fund public services.

The Zulia figures mark a significant benchmark for the country’s oil industry, which has sought to recover output after years of decline. The jump from 100 to 900 vessels suggests broader commercial activity around the crude operations, beyond the wells themselves.

Eight green-field projects form part of the package, indicating that the partnership extends into undeveloped territory rather than relying solely on existing infrastructure. Rodríguez described the agreements as a path toward consolidating Venezuela’s position in global energy markets.

The inspection tour took place as the government pushes to showcase tangible results from the August accords. The Acting President’s visit to the field operations was intended to demonstrate that the agreements are generating activity on the ground, not only on paper.

The production target of 120,000 barrels by December would extend the record reported Friday. If achieved, it would reinforce the government’s narrative of recovery built around the US partnership and the state of Zulia’s role as the engine of national output.

Rodríguez closed her remarks by linking the oil gains to broader national development, arguing that the industry’s expansion must reach Venezuelans through wages and public services rather than remaining confined to export statistics.

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