Puerto Lempira Puerto Lempira Puerto Lempira is the capital of the Gracias a Dios department in northeastern Honduras, located on the shores of the Caratasca Lagoon. Though it does not have paved roads, it is the largest town in the La Mosquitia region. The town is named for the 16th century leader of the indigenous Lenca peoples, Lempira, who directed an ultimately unsuccessful resistance against the Spanish "conquistador" forces in the 1530s. Puerto Lempira became the departmental capital in 1975, prior to which it was Brus Laguna. In the 1980s, the town became a centre for CIA operations against the Sandinistas. Its
Honduran lempira the United States dollar (the 20-centavos coin is called a "daime" as it was worth the same as a U.S. dime). As of June 20, 2017, the lempira was quoted at 23.44 HNL to 1 USD. In 1931, coins were introduced in denominations of 5, 20 & 50 centavos, and 1 lempira. One-, 2- and 10-centavos coins were added in 1935, 1939 and 1932, respectively. The silver 1-lempira coins ceased production in 1937, with the other silver coins (20 & 50 centavos) replaced by cupro-nickel in 1967. The 1- and 2-centavos coins were discontinued in 1974 and 1998, respectively. Coins