El presidente de Honduras, Nasry Asfura, ordenó priorizar el pago de aproximadamente US$1.85 millones que el Instituto Hondureño de Mercadeo Agrícola (IHMA) adeuda a productores de frijol que entregaron sus cosechas a la institución, confirmó el titular de la Secretaría de Agricultura y Ganadería (SAG), Moisés Molina.

El funcionario reconoció que la deuda continúa pendiente y explicó que las limitaciones presupuestarias afectaron el cumplimiento de distintas obligaciones del Gobierno, luego de que se destinaran recursos para atender los efectos de la sequía.

El compromiso de pago se mantiene y las autoridades esperan entregar próximamente el dinero a los agricultores.

Molina también informó que la junta directiva del IHMA trabaja en modificaciones para mejorar el funcionamiento de la institución, especialmente en los mecanismos de comercialización de los granos básicos y la rotación de los inventarios.

El titular de la SAG explicó que la deuda se mantiene desde la salida del anterior titular del instituto y señaló que la disponibilidad limitada de fondos incidió en el cumplimiento de varias responsabilidades gubernamentales.

Según Molina, la instrucción del presidente Asfura es dar prioridad a este pago, con el objetivo de que los productores reciban el dinero por el grano que entregaron. No obstante, el funcionario no precisó una fecha exacta para completar el desembolso.

El cumplimiento de esta obligación es relevante para los agricultores que dependen de los ingresos de sus cosechas y necesitan recuperar el dinero correspondiente a las entregas realizadas al Estado.

Además del pago pendiente, las autoridades analizan cambios para facilitar las operaciones comerciales del IHMA. Molina explicó que las restricciones legales para vender frijol a instituciones distintas de Banasupro dificultan la salida de los inventarios y limitan las opciones de comercialización.

La junta directiva trabaja en alternativas que permitan agilizar el funcionamiento de la institución y mejorar la rotación de los productos almacenados.

La intención es facilitar las ventas a otras entidades, aunque el ministro no detalló cuáles serían los cambios legales o administrativos que se aplicarían ni cuándo entrarían en vigor.

El IHMA cumple funciones relacionadas con el mercadeo agrícola, por lo que sus decisiones sobre la compra y venta de granos básicos tienen incidencia en la relación con los productores y en el abastecimiento del mercado hondureño.

Molina afirmó que la SAG mantiene vigilancia sobre la disponibilidad de frijol para cubrir el consumo nacional y advirtió que, si la producción hondureña resulta insuficiente, el país recurrirá a importaciones.

“Estamos alerta porque si en algún momento no logramos tener la producción que se necesita para suplir el consumo, lo vamos a traer de donde sea necesario”, declaró el secretario.

El funcionario no anunció una importación inmediata ni especificó cantidades o países de procedencia. Su declaración plantea la posibilidad de recurrir al mercado internacional si la producción nacional no alcanza para satisfacer la demanda.

La decisión dependería de las necesidades de abastecimiento y de la disponibilidad de producto. Por ahora, el ministro indicó que las autoridades permanecen atentas a la capacidad de producción para garantizar el suministro del grano.

Durante sus declaraciones, Molina también se refirió a las versiones sobre un posible acuerdo para incrementar el precio de los huevos entre noviembre y enero.

El secretario aseguró que la SAG no participa en esas negociaciones y manifestó desconocer si existe una conversación entre los avicultores y la Secretaría de Desarrollo Económico.

Molina explicó que los precios de los huevos pueden experimentar variaciones por factores relacionados con la oferta y la demanda.

Entre ellos mencionó el aumento del consumo y la reducción de las horas de luz, una condición que puede disminuir temporalmente la postura de las gallinas.

Sin embargo, el funcionario no confirmó que exista un acuerdo oficial para elevar los precios durante esos meses ni anunció medidas específicas sobre el comportamiento del mercado.

corresponsal:Desde Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., has tapped two high-powered Washington, D.C.-based attorneys who have previously represented elected officials at the highest echelon of American politics.

Amid dueling federal investigations — one for immigration fraud and another for financial disclosure discrepancies — the embattled Somali-born lawmaker hired Amy Jeffress and Joshua Matz, according to a CBS report. Both are partners at Hecker Fink LLP.

The attorneys have in the past represented Democrat clients and taken on left-leaning cases especially those taking aim at President Donald Trump, his administration and his supporters.

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Jeffress is a former federal prosecutor whose biography says she tried more than 40 cases during a decade in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia, where she was chief of the National Security Section. She has also been a Department of Justice (DOJ) attaché.

She served as former President Joe Biden’s attorney in his lawsuit against the DOJ earlier this year. In that case, Biden sought to halt the release of audio recordings between himself and his «Promise Me, Dad» book ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer. 

The audio was recorded in 2016 and 2017 and was subject to a FOIA request from the Heritage Foundation in 2024.

It was cited during special counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into whether Biden illegally retained classified information from his term as vice president and piqued the interest of conservatives demanding answers about Biden’s mental acuity.

The court declined to block the release of the recordings, in which Biden had frequent memory lapses, and they were made public in July.

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Before her time at Hecker Fink, Jeffress, a 1992 Yale Law graduate, served as counsel for then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat-led House January 6 committee, which spent two years investigating the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. She represented the committee when it was sued by a Trump campaign spokesperson, Taylor Budowich, after the committee subpoenaed his bank records.

Jeffress also represented Trump foe and former FBI attorney Lisa Page, a key figure in the left’s Russiagate conspiracy theory, during congressional scrutiny into the FBI’s handling of the matter. Page later sued the DOJ for releasing her text messages with her FBI colleague and lover at the time, Peter Strzok.

In the messages, Strzok assuaged Page’s concerns that Trump would become president by vowing that the FBI would stop it and referred to an «insurance policy» against his presidency. That case was settled in 2024.

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Jeffress is married to U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper of the District of Washington, D.C., who in May ruled that it was illegal for the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center to add Trump’s name. Trump publicly criticized Cooper as «highly conflicted» due to his relationship with Jeffress.

Matz is also a partner at Hecker Fink. He graduated from Harvard Law and clerked for former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.

«Joshua’s practice has long included a focus on democracy and elections,» his biography page says.

He represented the state of Pennsylvania in defending the certification of its election results, including arguing before the Supreme Court.

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He was counsel to House Democrats during both failed impeachment attempts against Trump during his first term in office.

Matz also represented E. Jean Carroll in two separate civil cases against Trump related to his denial of her sexual assault claims against him. He was never criminally charged. In 2022, Carroll accused Trump of defaming her in his denial of her account of an incident she claims happened in 1996. A New York jury found Trump liable for defamation and for sexual assault.

Prior to that case, in 2019, a jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million for defamation stemming from other comments made by Trump.

Matz represented students, parents and teachers who opposed Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act, which his biography describes as the «Don’t Say Gay» law, which restricted teaching students about sexual orientation and gender identity.

He also successfully represented Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear when he was sued for COVID-19 lockdowns, including school closures, and victims of the 2017 «Unite the Right» rally in Charlottesville.

Now, Matz and Jeffress are representing Omar as she seeks to battle two federal probes. In a video message posted to her social media earlier this month, the lawmaker pleaded with her supporters to keep sending money, noting that her fight against the investigations would be costly.

Omar’s attorneys did not respond to Digital’s request for comment. Neither did the White House.

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The Justice Department is investigating allegations that Democratic operatives recruited Alaska Senate candidate Daniel J. Sullivan, dubbed «Decoy Dan,» to siphon votes from Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, prompting liberal-leaning election law experts to accuse the Trump administration of federal overreach.

But former Federal Election Commission member Hans von Spakovsky argued that the Biden-era Justice Department’s prosecution of Donald Trump over alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election laid the groundwork for the Alaska probe.

«The Justice Department has talked about a potential conspiracy to defraud the voters of Alaska and people are saying, ‘Oh, he’s got no case. That’s a weak case,’» von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, told Digital. 

«Well, I suggest you do a Google search and pull up the indictment that Jack Smith got against Donald Trump in the District of Columbia. He set a precedent for this.»

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Joined by FBI officials and Alaska State Troopers, Alaska U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman announced at a news conference Friday that the Justice Department has been investigating whether Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired school teacher who will appear on the ballot without a party affiliation, was colluding with Democratic operatives tied to Democratic candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign.

The Justice Department previously sued Alaska election officials, seeking to block certification if Sen. Dan Sullivan loses re-election by fewer votes than those cast for Daniel J. Sullivan. 

The lawsuit was amended Friday to include reporting by The New York Times that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and senior aides of Peltola’s campaign allegedly worked to recruit candidates who could pull votes away from Sen. Sulllivan. Heyman mentioned the Times reporting repeatedly at the news conference.

«We are taking that extremely seriously,» Heyman said.

Sources at the Justice Department told Thursday the Trump administration had issued more than 30 subpoeanas in a span of 24 hours as part of its criminal investigation into the alleged collusion, but Heyman did not say at the news conference what criminal charges are being pursued.

«I’m not making any assumptions on whether a crime has been committed or not,» Heyman said. «That’s why we are conducting that thorough investigation.»

Von Spakovsky, a former Federal Election Commission commissioner, said potential indictments of Democratic operatives in the Alaska Senate race could rely on federal statutes similar to those Smith, the former special counsel, used in his 2023 indictment of Trump over alleged efforts to overturn the election.

Von Spakovsky pointed to charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy against rights. In Trump’s case, prosecutors alleged that he used fraud and deceit to obstruct the federal government’s process for certifying the 2020 election and conspired to deprive voters of having their lawful votes counted and honored.

Von Spakovsky said prosecutors could potentially apply similar theories in Alaska if they determine that Democratic operatives knowingly recruited Daniel J. Sullivan to confuse voters and divert votes from Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.

ALASKA’S GOVERNOR ORDERS INVESTIGATION AFTER NYT REPORT ON ALLEGED DEM-LINKED SENATE ELECTION SCHEME

Smith’s «indictment is basically along exactly those same lines, claiming that Donald Trump was trying to defraud U.S. voters from fair and honest elections. So, Jack Smith and Democrats, they set the precedent for the kind of investigation Justice Department is doing now.»

Aubrey Wieber, executive director of 907 Initiative, a progressive advocacy group running critical ads against Sen. Sullivan, told Alaska Public Media that the news conference announcing the investigation «on the eve of the election» may be stemming from ulterior motives.

«One could say it appears that they are trying to interfere in an election and put their thumb on the scale,» Wieber said.

The Justice Department’s lawsuit was filed Oct. 22, prompting a parade of condemnations from those who argued the federal government had «no authority» to intervene, with many pointing to the Alaska Supreme Court rejecting the state’s push to disqualify Daniel J. Sullivan from appearing on the ballot.

GOVERNOR PROBING ‘DECOY DAN’ SULLIVAN ELECTION SCANDAL WARNS SYSTEM FLAW HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

«DOJ’s theory: Two candidates named Sullivan might confuse voters. The Alaska Supreme Court settled that in June, and the ballot labels the incumbent. DOJ has no role in state election law,» Omar Noureldin, senior vice president of policy and litigation at Common Cause, a self-described non-partisan watchdog organization.

Von Spakovsky called recruiting a candidate with the same name as a political opponent a «dirty trick» but said the recruitment itself was not necessarily a criminal violation. He said the legal analysis could change if operatives paid the candidate or provided services to help organize his campaign.

«The place you run into potential issues is not only if you just recruit a candidate, but you’re being paid to recruit that candidate, and you then provide services to help him run his campaign and organize it,» Von Spakovsky said.

Providing campaign assistance outside of being a volunteer is an in-kind contribution subject to federal reporting and contribution rules. Von Spakovsky said any failure to properly report such contributions could create a separate campaign-finance violation.

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