Honduras Doctors’ 5-Week Protest Draws Cartel Label
HONDURAS · HEALTH
Key Facts
- —The country Honduras, a Central American country tied to the United States by the CAFTA-DR free-trade agreement since 2006.
- —What happened On Monday, 12 October, Armando Urtecho, executive director of the business council Cohep, called the leaders of the doctors’ association a “cartel.”
- —What he wants Urtecho asked the Labor Ministry, led by Fernando Puerto, to send inspectors and draw up formal records against doctors who keep care suspended.
- —Why doctors protest Honduras doctors, protesting since 7 September, want overdue pay, dismissed colleagues reinstated, pay adjustments, contracts, more staff and a bigger health budget.
- —The government’s figure Deputy health minister José Miguel Castillo says 95% of the doctors in the assemblies have now received their overdue salaries.
- —What it means for you Emergency rooms stay open, but outpatient clinics in public hospitals run by the Health Secretariat remain disrupted.
- —The doctors’ reply Samuel Santos, president of the doctors’ association, called the remarks regrettable, and the assemblies continue.
Honduras doctors have kept outpatient clinics in public hospitals shut for more than five weeks in a protest over unpaid salaries. On Monday, 12 October, a top executive of the country’s business council called their leadership a “cartel” and demanded sanctions.
Armando Urtecho is executive director of Cohep, the Honduran Private Enterprise Council, which groups the country’s business chambers. For American visitors, and for US families with relatives in Honduras, the standoff means long waits for routine care, although emergency rooms remain open.
What Urtecho Said on Monday
The CMH, or Colegio Médico de Honduras, is the professional college that represents Honduras doctors. Its president, Samuel Santos, has spoken for the protesting doctors since the assemblies began on Monday, 7 September, La Tribuna reported.
Speaking to reporters in Tegucigalpa on Monday, Urtecho said: “We believe the cartel that runs the Colegio Médico should search its conscience.” He added that the doctors hurt “the ordinary citizen,” not the government or business, La Prensa reported.
He also told the Labor Secretary to “get moving and enforce the law,” according to El Heraldo and its sister paper La Prensa. The daily El Mundo reported that the request was aimed at Labor Minister Fernando Puerto.
Urtecho asked the ministry to draw up formal infraction records, known as actas, against those “paralyzing the medical service,” El Mundo reported. La Tribuna added that he wants labor inspectors sent to public hospital wards at once.
His argument rests on the Labor Code, which he says treats health care as an essential service. Urtecho first raised the demand on Sunday, 4 October, asking on a TV debate program why doctors had not been sanctioned, TuNota reported.
Why Honduras Doctors Are Holding Assemblies
Honduras doctors call their protest asambleas informativas, or informational assemblies, rather than a strike. Outpatient clinics close while emergency rooms stay open, La Tribuna reported.
The action began over salaries left unpaid for months, while three state agencies argued over who should process the payments. The CMH has said the assemblies will continue until the authorities offer a concrete solution.
The demands now go further, El Heraldo and TuNota reported. They include reinstating dismissed doctors, pay adjustments, contracts, more staff, extra “prophylactic” leave and a larger health budget.
The CMH has called a new nationwide extraordinary assembly, held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., El Heraldo and La Prensa reported on Monday. Our earlier report explains how the 95% payment figure is counted.
What the Government Says
The row also exposes a gap at the top, because Honduras has no separate health minister. President Nasry Asfura, a conservative, runs the health ministry himself, TuNota and La Tribuna reported.
Urtecho said no health minister is needed to apply labor rules, according to El Mundo. In his view, it falls to Asfura to make the public administration work.
Deputy health minister José Miguel Castillo says 95% of the doctors in the assemblies have received their overdue salaries. The other 5% still have unresolved cases, he said, as reported by El Heraldo and La Prensa.
The Honduran Social Security Institute (IHSS), the state health insurer, reached a separate deal with its own doctors. Its clinics were due to resume consultations on 12 October, La Tribuna reported on 6 October.
How the Doctors Answered
Santos hit back the same afternoon. “Those kinds of statements from Cohep are regrettable,” he said, as reported by La Tribuna.
He described Urtecho as an employee with a right to his views, and added: “Those of us who reach old age often talk that way.”
Santos accused some health officials and “busybodies” from other organizations of using the dispute to raise their profile. The CMH said talks have moved to the presidency and that the assemblies end once back pay is settled, La Tribuna reported.
What It Means for You
For US visitors and residents, the Honduras doctors’ protest has not closed emergency rooms in public hospitals. Outpatient clinics run by the Health Secretariat are the services affected.
The US State Department says staff, facilities and supplies in Honduras often do not meet US medical standards. It warns that Medicare does not apply overseas and that most providers abroad accept only cash.
Its travel advisory rates Honduras at Level 3, “Reconsider Travel,” because of crime.
Carlos Hernández, who leads the Association for a More Just Society (ASJ), a Honduran anti-corruption group, called the situation of waiting patients “inhumane.” He asked the government to publish which doctors have already been paid, El Mundo reported on Monday.
For investors, the dispute sets the business lobby against a key profession in a close US trade partner. US goods trade with Honduras reached an estimated US$12.5 billion in 2025, the Office of the US Trade Representative says.
That trade runs under CAFTA-DR, the free-trade pact between the United States, five Central American countries and the Dominican Republic. It took effect for Honduras on 1 April 2006.
What Is Not Known
The Labor Secretariat has not said whether it will act on Urtecho’s request, or what penalties the Labor Code would allow.
It is also unclear when the remaining Honduras doctors will be paid in full, the condition the CMH has set for ending the assemblies.
More: Honduras news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Cohep?
Cohep, the Consejo Hondureño de la Empresa Privada, is the umbrella council of Honduras’ business chambers. Armando Urtecho is its executive director.
What is the CMH?
The Colegio Médico de Honduras is the professional college that represents the country’s doctors. Its president is Samuel Santos.
Why are doctors in Honduras protesting?
Honduras doctors want overdue salaries paid, dismissed colleagues reinstated, pay adjustments, contracts, more staff and a larger health budget.
How did the doctors respond to the cartel remark?
CMH president Samuel Santos called the remarks regrettable, La Tribuna reported. The college has kept its assemblies going and says talks have moved to the presidency.
Are public hospitals in Honduras open?
Emergency rooms remain open. Outpatient clinics are disrupted because Honduras doctors employed by the Health Secretariat are in assemblies. Social security clinics were due to reopen on 12 October.
Sources: El Heraldo, 12 October 2026; La Prensa, 12 October 2026; El Mundo, 12 October 2026; La Tribuna, 12 October 2026; La Tribuna, 12 October 2026; El Mundo, 12 October 2026; TuNota, 5 October 2026; La Tribuna, 6 October 2026; La Tribuna, 14 September 2026; La Tribuna, 7 September 2026; US Department of State, Honduras country information, 2026; US Department of State, Honduras Travel Advisory, 10 December 2024; Office of the US Trade Representative, Honduras, 2026; CIA, World Leaders: Honduras, 17 September 2026.
This article was drafted with automated assistance and reviewed before publication. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief