The Honduran Public Prosecutor’s Office reported on Tuesday the arrest of six individuals accused of being part of a network led from prison by a former mayor of San Marcos, in the department of Santa Bárbara, who allegedly diverted millions in public funds for personal enrichment.

The arrests were carried out by the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Transparency and Combating Public Corruption (FETCCOP) Northern Region, with support from the Technical Agency for Criminal Investigation (ATIC) and the Military Police for Public Order (PMOP), during raids linked to an investigation into the embezzlement of public funds, according to a statement from the Honduran Prosecutor’s Office.

Those arrested include:

• Jesús Alberto Hernández, Head of Municipal Development and San Marcos mayoral candidate

• Sandra Perdomo, councilwoman and wife of former mayor Pedro Aguilar

• Dania Iveth Villalvir, municipal treasurer

• Ada Lizeth Pineda, municipal auditor

• Lourdes Borjas Maldonado, head of personnel

• Elisa Castellanos, municipal accountant

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the network manipulated municipal documents and accounts, authorized irregular payments, acquired luxury goods, and collected bribes in exchange for inflated contracts.

The operation was directed from prison by former mayor Pedro Aguilar, of the minor party Alianza Patriótica, who is currently under investigation for alleged ties to drug traffickers convicted in the United States.

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Since 2023, the former mayor managed the organization by phone, despite being legally barred from public office and incarcerated at the Támara Penal Center, north of Tegucigalpa.

Investigations reveal that the network planned and used millions from the municipal budget to benefit Hernández, as well as acquiring two luxury vehicles, a home, firearms, and making a fake purchase of backpacks for social projects that were never delivered to the community.

All those involved face charges of abuse of functions, criminal association, money laundering, and complicity in embezzlement for the mismanagement of public assets, according to the Honduran Prosecutor’s Office.

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.