Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, second from right, is taken in handcuffs to a waiting plane as he is extradited to the United States at an air force base in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, April 21, 2022.
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 in 2024. convicted on drug and weapons charges and was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
The President explained his decision social networks by publishing that, “according to many people whom I respect very much,” Hernandez “was treated very harshly and unfairly.”
Last March, Hernandez was found guilty of conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States. He served two terms as leader of the Central American country of about 10 million people.
Hernandez appealed his conviction and served time in Hazelton U.S. Prison in West Virginia.
Hernandez's lawyer, Renato Stabile, expressed gratitude for Trump's actions.
“A great injustice has been righted, and we look forward very much to the future partnership between the United States and Honduras,” Stabile said. “Thank you President Trump for making sure justice was served. We look forward to President Hernandez's triumphant return to Honduras.”
Hernandez's separate attorney, Sabrina Shroff, declined to comment.
The post was part of Trump's broader message of support for Nasri “Tito” Asfura as president of Honduras, with Trump saying the US would support the country if he wins. But if Asfura loses the election this Sunday, Trump said that “the United States will not throw good money down the drain because the wrong leader can only bring disastrous results to the country, no matter what it is.”
Asfura, 67, is running for president for the second time under the conservative National Party. He was mayor of Tegucigalpa and promised to address Honduras' infrastructure needs. However, he has previously been accused of embezzling public funds, charges he denies.
Besides Asfura, there are two other likely contenders for the Honduran presidency: Rixi Moncada, who served as finance and then defense minister before leaving to run for the presidency under the incumbent Democratic Socialist Libre Party, and Salvador Nasralla, a former TV host who is making his fourth bid for the presidency, this time as the Liberal Party candidate.
Trump has framed the Honduras election as a test of 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, Nicolás Maduro.
Trump tried to put pressure on Maduro by ordering series of attacks on boats suspected drug traffickers, increasing the US military presence in the Caribbean with warships, including the US Navy's most modern aircraft carrier. USS Gerald R. Ford.
The US president has not ruled out the possibility of military or covert CIA action against Venezuela, although he has also said he is open to negotiations with Maduro.
Outgoing Honduran President Xiomara Castro leaned left-leaning, but she remained pragmatic and even cooperative in her dealings with the U.S. administration, and was visited by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Army Gen. Laura Richardson while she was commander of U.S. Southern Command. The president even backed off his threats to end Honduras' extradition treaty and military cooperation with the United States.
Under Castro, Honduras also received its citizens deported from the United States and served as a bridge for deported Venezuelans who were then taken over by Venezuela in Honduras.
Argentine President Javier Miley, a die-hard Trump fan, also endorsed Asfura in Honduras on Friday.
“I fully support Tito Asfura, who is the candidate who best represents the opposition to the leftist tyrants who destroyed Honduras,” the libertarian president said. X said on his account.
