Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was once touted by US authorities as a key ally in the drug war. Federal prosecutors now claim the political leader ran the Central American country as a “narco-state” and collected millions of dollars from violent cartels for his rise to power.
Nearly two years after his arrest and extradition to the United States, Hernandez is now scheduled to stand trial in federal court in Manhattan on drug trafficking and weapons charges. Jury selection is scheduled to begin on Tuesday.
This is surprising for a political leader who has long been seen by both Democratic and Republican administrations as beneficial to U.S. interests in the region, including fighting the illegal drug trade and slowing the wave of migrants crossing the U.S. southern border. It’s a downfall.
The fact that Mr. Hernández is being tried in the United States rather than in his home country highlights Honduras’ institutional weaknesses, said Raul, a Honduran political analyst and former three-term congressman from Mr. Hernández’s National Party.・Pineda Alvarado says:
Former Honduran president extradited to US on drug trafficking charges in New York
“For Hondurans, it means how weak our democracy is in terms of separation of powers,” he said. “Politicians are not subject to any control.”
Federal authorities say Hernandez profited from a drug trade that brought hundreds of thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States for nearly two decades, sometimes collaborating with Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa cartel. .
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez is scheduled to stand trial in New York City on charges that he knowingly allowed drug trafficking in his country in exchange for receiving millions of dollars from cartels. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
The millions of dollars in drug money that began flowing to Hernández starting around 2004 led to his rise from congressman representing a rural state in western Honduras to president of the National Assembly, and then to two consecutive terms as president from 2014 to 2022. became the driving force. the prosecutor says.
In exchange for bribes to support his political aspirations, the drug trafficker was allowed to operate in the country with near impunity and information to evade authorities and law enforcement transport escorts, according to U.S. prosecutors. It is said that he had obtained the.
Former Honduran president arrested at US request for drug trafficking, surprising fall
Federal prosecutors say Mr. Hernández collected $1.6 million from drug traffickers during his first presidential campaign to support his and other conservative politicians’ candidacies.
His brother also received a $1 million campaign contribution from notorious Sinaloa boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán with the promise that if Hernández were elected, the cartel’s drug shipments would be allowed to pass safely through Honduras. received.
Federal prosecutors in New York spent years investigating the Honduran drug lord and arriving at the man many believed would rise to the top: Hernández.
He was arrested at his home in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, in February 2022, just three months after leaving office, and extradited to the United States in April of the same year.
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U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said at the time that Hernández abused his position as president “to run the country as a narcostate.”
Hernández’s lawyer declined to comment ahead of the trial, and prosecutors are expected to rely on testimony from drug traffickers, corrupt Honduran law enforcement officials and politicians.
The former president, who earned a master’s degree from the State University of New York at Albany, has steadfastly maintained his innocence, saying the charges were retaliation from drug traffickers he had extradited to the United States.
Hernandez faces federal charges including drug trafficking conspiracy and possession of a machine gun and destructive device.
Meanwhile, his co-defendants, former Honduran National Police Chief Juan Carlos Bonilla and Hernández’s cousin Mauricio Hernández Pineda, have both appeared in recent weeks in the same Manhattan courtroom where Hernández’s trial is scheduled. Pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges.
