Honduras’ President Xiomara Castro rejected the “baseless attacks” against Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro after the United States raised the reward for information leading to his capture, accusing him of collaborating with drug trafficking groups.

“Honduras categorically rejects the accusations made against President Nicolás Maduro and expresses its full solidarity […] amid the unfounded attacks he faces today,” Castro said on X over the weekend. Meanwhile, Nicaragua sent a letter of support to Maduro on Friday. “Nicolás, brave brother […], no empire will ever bend us,” stated the message from Nicaraguan co-presidents and spouses Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.

Honduras and Nicaragua remain the only Central American countries allied with Venezuela. Additionally, Honduran Foreign Minister Yván Gil described the new reward against Maduro as “pathetic and ridiculous.”

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Thursday that the Donald Trump administration increased the reward to $50 million, accusing Maduro of working with “foreign terrorist organizations” such as Tren de Aragua and the Cartel of the Suns to smuggle “drugs” into the United States.

Gang members excluded from two prisons in Guatemala rioted this Tuesday and took prison guards hostage, the government reported.

Authorities attribute the riot to the recent transfer of leaders from the criminal groups Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha to a maximum-security prison.

“These criminals (gang members), responsible for extorting the country and killing our people, today (Tuesday) violently hold brave penitentiary guards hostage,” wrote the Minister of the Interior, Francisco Jiménez, on X, without specifying the number of hostages.

The minister stated that the inmates rioted in a section of the Preventive Prison in Zone 18, north of the capital, as well as in Fraijanes 2 prison, located in the northeast outskirts of Guatemala City. Jiménez explained that the rioting gang members demand that “their top leaders” be returned to the prisons where they originally served their sentences.

Five leaders from Barrio 18 and five from Mara Salvatrucha were relocated on July 31 to the maximum-security Renovación I prison, where inmates are isolated and have no access to cell phones.

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The minister affirmed that the leaders will remain excluded there despite the riots.

The Nicaraguan volcano Telica, standing 1,061 meters tall and located 112 kilometers northwest of Managua, registered four explosions this Friday, ejecting gases and ash. So far, no damages or casualties have been reported, authorities said.

“This morning, the Telica volcano registered its fourth explosion, this time with ballistics (small rocks expelled at high speed from the crater due to the explosions), followed by the release of gases and ash,” the Telica Municipality said on its social media, sharing photos of the active volcano.

Local authorities estimated that the ash column rose about 600 meters above the Telica crater and quickly dispersed toward the southwest.

“Monitoring was conducted in communities near the volcano, and no presence of ash was detected,” the Telica Municipality added, stating it will continue to watch the volcano’s activity.

Nicaraguan authorities usually recommend remaining calm and taking appropriate precautionary measures when volcanic activity occurs.

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Telica is one of Nicaragua’s most active volcanoes, located in the country’s western volcanic belt, which is part of the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire,” the most geologically active zone on Earth that spans dozens of countries in the Americas and Asia.

The volcano is part of Nicaragua’s volcanic mountain range, which has at least ten active craters and dozens of cone-shaped formations related to local volcanic activity.