Luis Redondo

Luis Redondo
Redondo in 2023
President of the National Congress of Honduras
In office
25 January 2022 – 20 January 2026
Preceded byMauricio Oliva
Succeeded byTomás Zambrano
Deputy of the Cortés Department
In office
25 January 2014 – 20 January 2026
Personal details
Born (1973-03-20) 20 March 1973 (age 52)
PartyLibre (2025–present)
Other political
affiliations
Anti-Corruption Party (2011–2017)
PINU-SD (2017–2020)
Savior (2020–2025)
Alma materNational Autonomous University of Honduras (CoE)

Luis Rolando Redondo Guifarro (born 20 January 1973)[1] is a Honduran politician and engineer who was a deputy and served as the president of the National Congress of Honduras from 25 January 2022 until 20 January 2026.[2] He was a staunch ally of LIBRE during his time as president and joined the party in 2025.[3]

Early life and career

Redondo began as a businessman in San Pedro Sula. He got involved supporting the Honduras National Team, traveling everywhere they played, becoming head of the barra since 2004. In that same year he met Salvador Nasralla, with whom he began a friendship. He traveled to the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, along with the national team. In 2011, he supported Nasralla for the creation of the Anti-Corruption Party and, in turn, became a candidate for deputy to Congress, in the 2013 election, in which he was elected.[4]

Partido Anticorrupcion

In 2016, a crisis began within the Anti-Corruption Party with Nasralla being accused of being "badly advised" which led to a dispute between Nasralla and Marlene Alvarenga about which of them would become the party's presidential candidate, the latter winning the dispute, while Nasralla would be appointed as the LIBRE-PINU presidential candidate. Redondo left PAC and joined PINU to run for Congress, being elected.[5]

Congressional president

In October 2021, the presidential candidates for PSH and LIBRE, Salvador Nasralla and Xiomara Castro, respectively, struck an alliance. Part of the agreement for Nasralla to step down as a candidate and endorse Castro was that if they were able to gain a majority in Congress, the head of Congress would be a member of the Savior Party.[6] Castro's party won 50 seats, whilst Nasralla's party won 10. On 23 December, during a livestream, Nasralla announced his endorsement for Luis Redondo to become the President of the Congress.[7] The next morning, Castro followed suit.[8]

When the newly elected congress voted for a congressional president on 21 January 2022, 18 deputies from LIBRE voted for Jorge Cálix, a member of LIBRE, rather than Redondo. As a consequence, the 18 deputies were expelled from LIBRE.[9][10] On 8 February 2022 the dispute was resolved when Cálix agreed to renounce his claim to the Presidency of the Congress, allowing Redondo to lead the Congress. Cálix's and the expelled deputies' membership of LIBRE was subsequently restored by LIBRE's leader Manuel Zelaya.[11]

Controversies

On 1 November 2025 Redondo installed a temporary congressional body to assume legislative duties ahead of the 2025 general elections, provoking cries of an authoritarian takeover by opposition parties as it bypassed the congressional majority.[12]

On 9 January 2026 Gladis Aurora Lopez a lawmaker of the National Party was injured after an unidentified assailant threw what appeared to be an explosive device into an outdoor hallway in the legislature where members of the National Party were holding a news briefing ahead of the planned transition of power.[13] Redondo who had refused to acknowledge the election results and lost his seat as lawmaker in the elections, was accused for promoting hatred and intimidation as well as weakening democracy by Tommy Zambrano, the subsequent president of the National Congress of Honduras.[14][15]

Notes

References

  1. ^ "Nueva Corte, Fiscalía y Procuraduría promete nuevo presidente del congreso » Criterio.hn". Criterio.hn (in Spanish). 24 December 2021. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Honduras political dispute resolved, paving way for president's anti-corruption agenda". Reuters. 8 February 2022. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  3. ^ cronologia/-/meta/redaccion. "Redondo usa cadena nacional para decir que Libre no tiene relación con Cartel de los Soles". www.elheraldo.hn (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  4. ^ "Luis Redondo, un brillante ingeniero, enemigo de la corrupción y ex jefe de la "barra catracha" que presidirá el Congreso Nacional de Honduras". www.diez.hn (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Salvador Nasralla: Luis Redondo y Fátima Mena tienen celos". www.elheraldo.hn (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Salvador Nasralla cede su candidatura para sumarse a Xiomara Castro". El Heraldo. 13 October 2021. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2022. Igualmente, Libre y PSH acordaron que la facción de Nasralla controlará el Congreso Nacional.
  7. ^ "Luis Redondo será el nuevo presidente del Congreso Nacional". La Prensa. 23 December 2021. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  8. ^ "Xiomara Castro: "Luis Redondo nos garantiza combatir la corrupción"". La Prensa (in Spanish). 24 December 2021. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  9. ^ Gustavo Palencia (22 January 2022). "Honduras' next president blasts party for 'betrayal' in Congress". Reuters. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  10. ^ "Libre Party of Honduran president-elect expels defector deputies". Radio Havana Cuba. 22 January 2022. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  11. ^ "Honduras political dispute resolved, paving way for president's anti-corruption agenda". Reuters. 8 February 2022. Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  12. ^ Orozco, Jose (1 November 2025). "Honduras Ruling Party Installs Temporary Congress, Prensa Says". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  13. ^ Staff, Al Jazeera. "Conservative lawmaker in Honduras injured after being hit with explosive". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  14. ^ "TRT World - Honduran Congress panel rejects election results, accuses Trump of interference". www.trtworld.com. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  15. ^ Staff, Al Jazeera. "Conservative lawmaker in Honduras injured after being hit with explosive". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 18 February 2026.