Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, second from right, is led in handcuffs to a waiting plane at an air force base in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, April 21, 2022, as he is being extradited to the United States.
Elmer Martinez/AP
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Elmer Martinez/AP
West Palm Beach, Florida. – President Donald Trump said Friday he will pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was convicted on drug trafficking and weapons charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison, in 2024.
The president explained his decision by posting on social media that “according to many people whom I respect greatly,” Hernandez was “treated very harshly and unfairly.”
In March last year, Hernandez was convicted in a US court of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States. He served two terms as leader of the Central American nation of approximately 10 million people.
Hernandez is appealing his conviction and serving time at the U.S. Penitentiary in Hazleton, West Virginia.
Renato C. Stabile, an attorney for Hernandez, expressed gratitude for Trump’s actions.
Stabile said, “A great injustice has been corrected and we are very hopeful for the future partnership of the United States and Honduras.” “Thank you to President Trump for ensuring justice. We look forward to President Hernandez’s triumphant return to Honduras.”
A separate attorney for Hernandez, Sabrina Shroff, declined to comment.
The post was part of Trump’s broader message supporting Nasri “Tito” Asfura for president of Honduras, with Trump saying the US would support the country if he wins. But if Asfura loses the election this Sunday, Trump posted that “the United States will not throw good money after bad money, because a wrong leader can only bring disastrous consequences to a country, no matter what country it is.”
67-year-old Asfura is contesting the presidential election for the second time from the Conservative National Party. He was the mayor of Tegucigalpa and promised to solve Honduras’s infrastructure needs. But he has previously been accused of embezzling public funds, charges he denies.
In addition to Asfura, there are two other potential contenders for the presidency of Honduras: Ricci Moncada, who served as Secretary of Finance and later Defense before running for president for the incumbent democratic socialist Libre Party, and Salvador Nasralla, a former television personality who is making his fourth bid for the presidency, this time as the Liberal Party candidate.
Trump has framed Honduras’ election as a test for democracy, suggesting in a separate Truth Social post that if Asfura loses, the country could go the way of Venezuela and fall under the influence of that country’s leader Nicolas Maduro.
Trump has tried to pressure Maduro, ordering a series of strikes against boats suspected of carrying drugs, building up a U.S. military presence in the Caribbean with warships including the Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford.
The US President has not ruled out military action or covert action by the CIA against Venezuela, although he has also said he is willing to talk with Maduro.
Outgoing President of Honduras The president has also backed off his threats to end Honduras’ extradition treaty and military cooperation with the US
Under Castro, Honduras also deported its citizens to the US and served as a bridge for exiled Venezuelans who were later taken up by Venezuelans in Honduras.
Argentinian President Javier Miley, a staunch Trump fan, also extended his support to Asfura in Honduras on Friday.
“I fully support Tito Asfura, the candidate who best represents the opposition to the leftist dictators who are destroying Honduras,” the liberal president said on his X account.
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