Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández took the stand Tuesday for the defense in his New York trial and denied that he teamed up with drug dealers to protect them in exchange for millions of dollars in bribes. .
His testimony in federal court in Manhattan came after days of testimony from drug cartel traffickers hoping to get a reduction in lengthy prison sentences in exchange for their cooperation against him. They claimed he protected the drug trade in exchange for millions of dollars that contributed to his rise to power.
Prosecutors say Hernandez, who was president from 2014 to 2022, used the Central American country’s military and police to help drug traffickers transport cocaine into the country on its way to the United States. It is said that he did. In the United States, he was often seen by Democratic and Republican administrations as beneficial to American interests in the region.
Former Honduran police chief pleads guilty to drug trafficking in big blow to former president
Mr. Hernandez has denied aiding drug traffickers or accepting bribes, and has positioned himself as an anti-drug-trafficking campaigner who has done everything in his power to help the U.S. hunt down drug traffickers, including the extradition of about 20 people. .
FILE – In this Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, courtroom sketch from a federal courthouse in New York, former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, seated in the center of the defense table, appears as a potential juror during the jury selection process at the start of the trial. looking towards someone. his trial. On Tuesday, March 5, Hernández took to the stand for the defense in his trial in New York and denied colluding with drug dealers to protect them in exchange for millions of dollars in bribes. (Elizabeth Williams, via AP, File)
“I have said that all extradition requests by the United States will be granted,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez was asked by his defense attorney whether he had ever accepted bribes or offered protection to drug cartels or drug traffickers, who were repeatedly mentioned during the trial that began two weeks ago.
He insisted that was not the case.
Additionally, a witness who testified that Hernandez trafficked tens of millions of dollars worth of drugs while he was mayor of Honduras, said Hernandez would not protect him from prosecution if he agreed not to run for re-election. He said he had not made any promises. His term as mayor ended amid headlines about him being a drug dealer.
“Never,” Hernandez said through an interpreter.
At one point, a cartel was asked if he wanted to assassinate him.
“I was warned about that by the FBI, sir,” he replied.
Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, the brother of the former president and a former Honduran congressman, was sentenced to life in prison in Manhattan federal court in 2021 for his own conviction on drug charges.
Prosecutors say that between 2004 and 2019, Tony Hernandez secured millions of dollars in bribes from drug traffickers and distributed them to his country’s politicians, including the notorious Mexican capo, It also includes a $1 million gift from Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to Juan Orlando Hernández.
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The former president was arrested at his home in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa in February 2022, just three months after leaving office, and extradited to the United States in April of the same year.
