Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, has walked free after President Donald Trump pardoned the man once characterised as the key figure in a drug trafficking scheme that flooded America with over 400 tonnes of cocaine.
Trump has said that Hernández, who was sentenced to 45 years in prison by a US court, is a victim of political persecution and has been treated very harshly and unfairly. The pardon has surprised some experts, given the seriousness of the crime and the administration's promised crackdown on illegal drugs flowing into the US.
Here is a look at Hernández's political career and crimes, and why Trump may have pardoned him.
400 tonnes of cocaine and a $1m bribe from El Chapo
Hernández first ran for president of Honduras, a country of 10 million people, in 2013 as the candidate for the conservative National Party. He ran again in 2017, in an election marred by fraud allegations and violent protests. Throughout his two terms, he maintained a cordial relationship with the US, with then-President Barack Obama calling him one of the excellent partners on the migrant-children crisis. Trump backed him as the winner of the disputed 2017 vote.
However, Hernández's fortunes began to unravel in 2019 when US federal prosecutors accused him of accepting a $1m bribe from notorious drug lord Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán for his first presidential campaign in exchange for protecting narcotics routes through Honduras. The allegations surfaced during a separate case involving his brother, Juan Antonio Tony Hernández, who was arrested in 2018 on charges of smuggling cocaine into the US and subsequently convicted in 2019.
Shortly after leaving office in 2022, Juan Orlando Hernández was arrested and extradited to the US to face drug-trafficking and related weapons charges. His federal trial lasted three weeks in 2024, where prosecutors argued he was a central figure in a long-running drug-trafficking scheme.
Trump: Hernández conviction was a 'Biden setup'
Trump announced the pardon on Friday, stating Hernández had faced unfair treatment from prosecutors. He also endorsed Tito Asfura for president of Honduras while the elections were underway. Trump's endorsement was not surprising, given the National Party's ideological alignment with the current US administration. The decision to pardon Hernández stunned some experts, who noted the overwhelming evidence against him and questioned the contradiction of this pardon with Trump’s stance on drug trafficking.
During a White House briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed the charges against Hernández were corrupted by political agendas and emphasized Trump’s commitment to combating illegal narcotics. Meanwhile, media reports indicate Hernández had previously penned a letter to Trump praising him and requesting a case review, which may have influenced the pardon.
The implications of this pardon raise critical questions about political motivations behind legal decisions and the future of US drug policy in relation to Central America.
