In 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation approved regulations on diplomatic and official passports, igniting a debate about how far public office privileges should extend in Honduras. The rules specify that former heads of the branches of government and former Foreign Ministry officials can keep their diplomatic passports for life, a benefit that also applies to their spouses.
The provision was approved through Agreement No. 001-SG-2025, signed on May 6, 2025 by then-Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina García and subsequently published in the official gazette La Gaceta on June 14, 2025. The document establishes the rules for the issuance and use of diplomatic and official passports, which are intended to facilitate the international travel of officials on 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 define the diplomatic passport as a document issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to officials carrying out official missions abroad, with the aim of facilitating their international travel and enabling them to receive diplomatic courtesies from other states.
However, Article 13 of the regulations introduces a specific provision stating that:
Former leaders of the government branches and their spouses, along with former secretaries and undersecretaries of state within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and their spouses, are granted the lifelong privilege of holding a diplomatic passport.
From an administrative perspective, this clause indicates that certain former officials are allowed to keep the document once they have left their roles, without any further requirement to return it.
Among those who could benefit from this provision are former President Xiomara Castro, former President of the National Congress Luis Redondo, and 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
According to the regulations released in La Gaceta, the diplomatic passport is granted to support the performance of representing the State overseas and to seek assistance and safeguards from authorities in foreign nations while carrying out official assignments.
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.
By adding a lifetime clause, a new modality is introduced into how the document is administratively regulated 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 set a deadline of March 31 for the surrender of these documents to the Passport Unit, citing the same regulation approved 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 of the regulation’s approval and the foreign minister’s subsequent departure to join the electoral race has also been highlighted in public debate. The agreement was signed on May 6, 2025, less than three weeks before the official’s resignation to join the political campaign linked to 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.
