The approval in 2025 of regulations on diplomatic and official passports by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has sparked a debate over the scope of privileges associated with public office in Honduras. The regulations established that former heads of the branches of government and former Foreign Ministry officials may retain diplomatic passports for life, a benefit that also extends to their spouses.
The provision gained approval through Agreement No. 001-SG-2025, endorsed on May 6, 2025 by then-Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina García and later released in the official gazette La Gaceta on June 14, 2025. The document outlines the regulations governing the issuance and use of diplomatic and official passports, designed to support the international travel of officials carrying out government missions.
The issue has regained prominence following a recent statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting that former officials return these documents, a situation that has brought the scope of the exceptions included in the regulations to the forefront of the debate.
Extent of the Benefit Available to Former Officials
The regulations describe the diplomatic passport as a document granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to officials performing official duties overseas, designed to ease their international travel and allow them to obtain diplomatic courtesies from other states.
However, Article 13 of the regulations introduces a specific provision stating that:
“Former heads of the branches of government and their spouses, as well as former secretaries and undersecretaries of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and their spouses, have the privilege of holding a diplomatic passport for life.”
In administrative terms, this clause means that certain former officials may retain the document even after leaving office, with no subsequent obligation to return it.
Among the individuals who might qualify for this provision are the former President Xiomara Castro, the former head of the National Congress Luis Redondo, and the current President of the Supreme Court of Justice Rebeca Ráquel Obando.
The benefit also covers former officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Enrique Reina himself, along with former Deputy Foreign Ministers Gerardo Torres, Cindy Larissa Rodríguez, and Zulmit Solemit Rivera Zúniga. Under the regulations, this privilege is likewise granted to their spouses, widening the reach of the benefit beyond those who directly served in public office.
This provision received approval several weeks prior to Reina submitted his resignation on May 27, 2025, at which point he revealed his involvement in the electoral race as a vice-presidential contender on the slate led by Rixi Moncada, a representative of the LIBRE party.
Diplomatic Role and Organizational Application of the Document
The regulations published in La Gaceta state that the diplomatic passport is issued to facilitate the work of representing the State abroad and to request cooperation and protection from authorities in other countries during official missions.
Although holding this document does not automatically imply diplomatic immunity, it has long been linked to functions of state representation or to particular missions sanctioned by the government.
According to international relations experts cited on several occasions by RCV, administrative practice in various countries stipulates that diplomatic passports are revoked once the term of office ends, with the aim of preventing the document from being used for personal purposes or outside the scope of official duties.
The inclusion of a lifetime clause therefore introduces a distinct modality into the administrative regulation of the document within the Honduran state apparatus.
Petition for Reinstatement and Managerial Strains
Discussion over the regulations grew more intense after a statement released by the current Foreign Minister, Mireya de Agüero, in which former officials from the previous administration were instructed to return the diplomatic and official passports issued during that period.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has designated March 31 as the final date for delivering these documents to the Passport Unit, referring to the same regulation enacted in 2025.
However, the regulations outline clear exceptions: former officials granted the privilege of a lifetime diplomatic passport are exempt from returning it. This scenario has generated administrative tension, as the overall request to hand back these documents contrasts with the permanent benefit maintained by this particular group of former officials.
The timing surrounding the regulation’s approval and the foreign minister’s later decision to step into the electoral race has also drawn attention in public discussions. The agreement was finalized on May 6, 2025, less than three weeks before the official stepped down to join the political campaign associated with the LIBRE party.
Various analysts have interpreted this episode as part of a broader discussion on the relationship between public office and administrative privileges. The fact that the benefit is for life—that is, that it remains in effect even after the official ceases to exercise state responsibilities—raises questions about the limits of such provisions within public administration.
In a national context marked by debates on institutional framework, administrative transparency, and the use of public resources, the 2025 regulation has sparked a discussion about the role of diplomatic instruments and their relationship to the temporary exercise of state functions. The issue has also reignited the debate over whether the benefits associated with public office should continue after a term ends or be strictly limited to the period during which officials perform their duties within the government structure.
