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 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 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.”
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 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 extends to former officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Enrique Reina himself, as well as former Deputy Foreign Ministers Gerardo Torres, Cindy Larissa Rodríguez, and Zulmit Solemit Rivera Zúniga. According to the regulations, this privilege also extends to their spouses, broadening the scope of the benefit beyond those who directly held 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 possession of this document does not automatically imply diplomatic immunity, its use is traditionally associated with functions of state representation or specific missions authorized by the government.
According to international relations experts repeatedly referenced by RCV, administrative procedures in many nations indicate that diplomatic passports are rescinded when an official’s term concludes, intended to ensure the document is not employed for private matters or beyond authorized functions.
The inclusion of a lifetime clause therefore introduces a distinct modality into the administrative regulation of the document within the Honduran state apparatus.
Request for Return and Administrative Tensions
The debate surrounding the regulations intensified following a statement issued by the current Foreign Minister, Mireya de Agüero, in which former officials of the previous administration were asked to return the diplomatic and official passports issued during that administration.
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 provide for explicit exceptions: former officials who hold the privilege of a lifetime diplomatic passport are not required to return them. This situation has created administrative tension, since while the general return of the documents is being requested, a specific group of former officials retains the benefit permanently.
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.
