| Post: | Designates to the Presidency |
| Body: | the Republic of Honduras |
| Insignia: | Coat of arms of Honduras.svg |
| Insigniasize: | 105px |
| Insigniacaption: | Coat of arms of Honduras |
| Incumbent: | Doris Gutiérrez Renato Florentino |
| Incumbentsince: | 27 January 2022 |
| Termlength: | 4 years, non-renewable[1] [2] |
| Inaugural: | Marcelino Ponce Martínez, Céleo Arias Moncada, and Arturo Rendón Pineda (1982) |
| Formation: | 27 January 1982 (current) |
| Style: | Mr./Madame Vice President (informal) The Most Excellent and His/Her Excellency[3] (formal) |
The vice presidents of Honduras, officially the Designates to the Presidency (Spanish; Castilian: Designados a la Presidencia), is the second highest political position in Honduras. According to the current constitution, the president and vice-presidents are elected in the same ticket. From 1957 to 2006 and from 2010 onwards there are positions of first, second, and third vice-president commonly known as the presidential designates (Spanish; Castilian: designados presidenciales).
Only during the Zelaya administration the vice-presidential position was held by one person, since the Congress reformed the Constitution in 2008 for that the vice-presidential charge would be held again by three persons. The position of vice president commissioner was created by former President Manuel Zelaya after Vice President Elvin Santos resigned in late 2008.[4]
The only constitutional duty of the vice presidents involves performing the functions of the president in their absence, usually due to incapacitation (one of the vice presidents is selected by the president to serve in the role on an temporary basis until the president's return). If the absence is considered to be permanent, then one of the three vicepresidents, selected by the National Congress, will fulfill the functions of the president until the end of the term. If all the vicepresidents are absent, the president of the National Congress takes over as acting president, and if the president of the National Congress is also absent then the president of the Supreme Court will become acting president until the end of the term.
Vice presidents are eligible to be impeached by the National Congress for poor performance or misconduct. Vice presidents are also not allowed to remain outside the country for more than 15 days without the permission of the National Congress.
The requirements to be a vice president are the same as that of the president. A candidate must be Honduran by birth, be over the age of 30, have full civic rights, and may not be an active member of the leadership of any established religion.
Vice presidents may not be elected president while serving in the role, or within six months after the end of their term or resignation. Vice presidents can also not be elected as a deputy of the National Congress while serving in office.
The following is a history of officeholders:[5]
| Term | President | First presidential designate | Second presidential designate | Third presidential designate | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957–1963 | Ramon Villeda Morales | José Mejía Arellano | Francisco Milla Bermúdez | Juan Miguel Mejía | [14] |
| 1965–1971 | Oswaldo López Arellano | Ricardo Zúñiga Agustinus | Horacio Moya Posas | Napoleón Alcerro Oliva | [15] |
| 1971–1972 | Ramón Ernesto Cruz Uclés | René Bendaña Meza | Eugenio Matute Canizales | Tiburcio Carías Castillo | [16] |
| Term | First presidential designate | Second presidential designate | Third presidential designate | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982–1986 | Roberto Suazo Cordova | Marcelino Ponce Martínez | Céleo Arias Moncada | Arturo Rendón Pineda | [17] |
| 1986–1990 | José Azcona del Hoyo | Alfredo Fortín Inestroza | José Pineda Gómez | Jaime Rosenthal | Rosenthal left office in 1989[18] |
| 1990–1994 | Rafael Leonardo Callejas | Jacobo Hernández Cruz | Marco Tulio Cruz | Roberto Martínez Lozano | [19] |
| 1994–1998 | Carlos Roberto Reina | Walter López Reyes | Juan de la Cruz Avelar Leiva | Guadalupe Jerezano Mejía | [20] |
| 1998–2002 | Carlos Roberto Flores | William Handal Raudales | Gladys Caballero de Arévalo | Hector Vidal Cerrato Hernandez | [21] |
| 2002–2006 | Ricardo Maduro | Vicente Williams Agasse | Armida Villela de López Contreras | José Alberto Díaz Lobo | |
Before the 2005 elections, the Honduran Congress reformed the Constitution for that the charge of vice-president may be held by only one person.
| Term | President | Vice president | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–2009 | Manuel Zelaya | Elvin Santos (27 January 2006 – 18 November 2008[22]) Unoccupied (18 November 2008 – 1 February 2009) Arístides Mejía (1 February 2009[23] – 28 June 2009) | Elvin Santos resigned to pursue the presidency. Arístides Mejía didn't fully occupy the charge; he was a presidential commissioner, not a vice-president, since he was appointed by President Zelaya and not popularly elected; this equates to being a minister without portfolio.[24] [25] He was deposed on 28 June 2009. | |
| 2009–2010 | Roberto Micheletti | Unoccupied (28 June 2009 - 27 January 2010) | Acting President Roberto Micheletti did not appoint any presidential commissioner (like Manuel Zelaya did with Aristides Mejía) while he was occupying the Honduran presidency. |
In 2008, before the Honduran primary elections, the three posts of vice-presidents were restored by order of the Supreme Court which deemed their replacement with a single vice-president unconstitutional.
| Term | First presidential designate | Second presidential designate | Third presidential designate | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–2014 | Porfirio Lobo Sosa | María Antonieta Guillén Vásquez | Samuel Armando Reyes Rendon | Victor Hugo Barnica | |
| 2014–2018 | Juan Orlando Hernández | Ricardo Antonio Alvarez Arias | Ava Rossana Guevara Pinto | Lorena Enriqueta Herrera | |
| 2018–2022 | Juan Orlando Hernández | Ricardo Antonio Alvarez Arias | Olga Margarita Alvarado Rodríguez | María Antonia Rivera Rosales | [26] |
| 2022–2026 | Xiomara Castro | Salvador Nasralla | Renato Florentino | Nasralla left office in 2024[27] | |