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.
Scope of the Benefit for 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.”
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 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 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 was approved weeks before Reina submitted his resignation on May 27, 2025, when he announced his participation in the electoral process as a vice-presidential candidate on the ticket headed by Rixi Moncada, representative of the LIBRE party.
Diplomatic Function and Institutional Use 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 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.
By adding a lifetime clause, a new modality is introduced into how the document is administratively regulated within the Honduran state apparatus.
Request for Return and Administrative Tensions
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 viewed this episode as contributing to a wider debate over the relationship between public office and administrative privileges, and the lifelong nature of the benefit—remaining valid even after the official no longer performs state duties—has prompted renewed scrutiny of how far such provisions should extend within public administration.
In a national landscape shaped by discussions on institutional framework, administrative transparency, and the use of public resources, the 2025 regulation has prompted renewed consideration of how diplomatic instruments fit into the temporary execution of state responsibilities. The matter has further revived questions about whether the benefits associated with public office ought to extend beyond the conclusion of a term or be confined exclusively to the time during which officials carry out their roles within the governmental system.
