Juan Orlando Hernandez (Gracias, Honduras, 58 years old) abandoned the maximum security prison in Hazleton, West Virginia, where he served a 45-year sentence. Hernandez, who was president of Honduras between 2014 and 2022, was convicted for his links to drug trafficking. He is released from prison thanks to a pardon from United States President Donald Trump, who tried to influence the presidential elections last Sunday, offering his support to the conservative candidate Nasri. Titus Two birds from the same party as Hernandez.
This lawyer and notary was convicted in June 2024 by Judge Kevin Castel of the Federal Court in New York for more than a decade of association with drug traffickers who paid bribes to ensure that more than 400 tons of cocaine reached the United States. JOH, as the Honduran politician is known by his short name, was declared guilty of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and possessing “destructive devices,” including machine guns worthy of an army. The tests were so clear that the trial lasted only two weeks, according to the judges. He was also accused of possessing an arsenal of machine guns and other firearms, including AK-47 and AR-15 rifles and grenade launchers, which he wanted for his army.
The case against JOH was very controversial in Honduras, but also in Washington. During its years in power, Hernández was a loyal ally of Casa Blanca. Apparently, he had cooperated in the fight against drug trafficking, but in reality he exploited his influence in the Central American country so that the police, army and juices switched to the other side while he dealt with the drug traffickers. During his term, Honduras received more than $50 million from the US Administration to combat drug trafficking. La Casa Blanca also authorized tens of millions of dollars for military and security aid in Honduras. After these accusations, the Ministry of Justice decided to consider the country immersed in the waters of the Caribbean Sea as a narcotic state.
Trump’s pardon occurred despite multiple labels linking JOH to drugs. His brother Juan Antonio, with whom he had a close relationship, was convicted four years ago by the same court in New York for his ties to drug cartels in Honduras. While he was still in power, Manhattan tax authorities began accusing Juan Orlando Hernandez of receiving $1 million from Mexican capo Joaquin. El Chapo Guzman.
Beyond the money trail, inspectors received testimony from other drug dealers from the local Los Cachiros gang that exposed JOH’s activities as a key part of drug trafficking. The judicial documents on which the ruling was based are: Hernandez is “at the heart of one of the largest and most violent drug trafficking conspiracies in the world.” In that court, in which JOH always maintained his innocence, the inspector suspected that he “abused his powerful positions and authority in Honduras to facilitate the importation of more than 400 tons of cocaine into the United States.” He continues: “Hernandez’s co-conspirators were armed with automatic rifles and destructive devices, which they used to protect their massive shipments of cocaine as they transited through Honduras on their way to the United States, protect the money obtained from the eventual sale of this cocaine and protect their drug trafficking territory against competitors.”
The arrest of Juan Orlando Hernandez was filmed. I was only able to enjoy 18 days as former President of Honduras freely. After handing over the position to President Xiomara Castro at the end of 2022, the politician was arrested at his home and the extradition process began. US inspectors summarized the case as “state-sponsored drug trafficking” because Hernandez was part of a “violent drug trafficking conspiracy” that smuggled approximately 500,000 kilograms of cocaine through Honduras into the United States. A harsh blow for a man who defined himself as an unconditional ally of the United States.
Hernandez assumed the presidency of Honduras in 2014. His government stated that he maintained a close relationship with Washington in the fight against drug trafficking, and for this reason he received cooperation and support to combat drugs and immigration. The president prided himself on a tough-on-crime policy, and soon found himself plagued by increasingly persistent convictions. As I mentioned in the letter I wrote to Trump asking for pardon. I say: “The classified and unclassified documents in the possession of multiple US agencies, including the State Department, Sur Command, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the CIA, the Department of the Treasury, and the National Security Administration, are evidence of the unprecedented cooperation it maintains with its administration in breaking cards, extraditing drug traffickers in the United States and combating organized crime.”
In the letter, Hernandez blames inspectors who accused him of not taking these tests into account. “They were fully aware of this and the exculpatory context surrounding my case, but they continued to ignore truth and justice. This occurred despite praise for unprecedented actions, historic results, and continued cooperation with US agencies in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime,” he wrote. But American inspectors confirmed that the mandate at the time and its environs used state structures – the police, the army, and public institutions – for the benefit of drug trafficking networks. The Department of Justice charged him with “conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States and commit firearms crimes.” Juan Orlando Hernandez used his position as President of Honduras to run the country as a narco-state where violent drug traffickers were allowed to operate with virtual impunity, and the people of Honduras and the United States were forced to suffer. Inspector General Merrick P. Garland stated that “the Department of Justice is working to dismantle the entire ecosystem of drug trafficking networks that harm the American people, without importing how far or how far we have to go.”
During his term, Hernández’s critics denounced electoral manipulation, buying favors from government officials and systemic corruption, and asserted that part of his government’s power lay in agreements with drug traffickers. Although the Honduran constitution absolutely prohibits second terms, Hernández managed to bend the rule to assert himself in the 2017 elections. A similar attempt by Manuel Zelaya to violate this constitutional ban led to a coup, after which he was dismissed in 2009.
However, Hernández claimed in April 2015 that the Constitutional Chamber of the government-related Supreme Court declared the article prohibiting re-election inapplicable, arguing that it violated the human rights of the president and other officials. This positive interpretation enabled him to compete in elections without the need for constitutional reforms.
The November 2017 elections took place in a climate of polarization and much uncertainty during the initial vote count, initially resulting in unexpected gains for challenger Salvador Nasrallah, who competed again in the current election process held last Sunday.
The most notable of these stories is that the results transmission system crashed for more than 24 hours, and when it started working again, Hernandez began to casually reassemble himself until he emerged as the winner.
The OAS observer mission stated that the process was so riddled with irregularities that it could not guarantee a reliable result and recommended new elections. But electoral authorities certified Hernandez’s victory.
His second term was plagued by condemnations of his government’s ties to organized crime networks, which included his brother Tony Hernandez. A New York judge sentenced him to life in prison in March 2021 after a popular jury found him guilty. The US Department of Justice has been charged with four counts of drug trafficking, including shipping tons of cocaine into US territory. In Honduras, public dissatisfaction with corruption scandals increased during his term.
One of the worst stories was the IHSS case of the Honduran Social Security Institute, which had more than $200 million embezzled. Press investigations revealed that part of this money was used to finance the election campaign of the National Party, to which Hernandez belongs.
Furthermore, the so-called Mission to Support Corruption and Impunity in Honduras, created in cooperation with the Organization of American States, discovered that public funds intended for social projects were diverted to a ghost NGO controlled by members of Congress, several members of the National Party and more than ten million dollars from the Minister of Agriculture were diverted to political campaigns of the National Party. But what weighs heavily on Hondurans’ minds is the erratic use of funds during the COVID-19 pandemic, which includes purchases from mobile hospitals at inflated prices, which have cost the country more than $48 million, or faulty medical supplies that never arrive.
In this way, Hernandez’s government began to market itself as a champion of the war against crime, supporting a series of demonstrations that demanded the end of his term due to corruption. His conviction was celebrated in the United States as an act of justice, but the pardon raises a huge question about how it will be received in Honduras, which appears to be dominated by a deeply corrupt political class.