On 5 December 2022, Honduran lawmakers approved President Xiomara Castro’s partial state of emergency declaration to combat gang activity in neighborhoods of the capital Tegucigalpa and in the northern city of San Pedro Sula. The state of emergency, which is scheduled to be in effect from 6 December 2022 to 6 January 2023, will limit constitutional freedoms such as the rights to assemble and to move freely, and will also allow law enforcement personnel to exercise emergency powers to prosecute and detain suspected criminals involved in gang-related activities with minimal due process. The state of emergency declaration follows a recent increase in reported extortion cases targeting public transportation vehicle drivers perpetrated by members of the MS-13 and Barrio 18 gangs in Honduras’ main cities.