Donald Trump has stated his intention to pardon Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, who was convicted of drug trafficking charges in a U.S. court last year.
In a social media post on Friday, the former U.S. president described Hernández as having been “treated very harshly and unfairly,” announcing his forthcoming pardon.
Hernández was found guilty in March 2024 of conspiring to import cocaine into the U.S. and of possessing machine guns, subsequently receiving a 45-year prison sentence.
Trump also voiced his support for conservative presidential candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura in the upcoming Honduran general election, scheduled for Sunday.
Hernández, a member of the National Party who served as Honduras’s president from 2014 to 2022, was extradited to the U.S. in April 2022 to face trial for allegedly running a drug trafficking conspiracy and facilitating the smuggling of hundreds of tons of cocaine into the U.S.
During his trial, prosecutors in New York alleged that Hernández operated the Central American nation as a “narco-state,” accepting millions of dollars in bribes from drug traffickers in exchange for legal protection.
In addition to his prison sentence, Hernández was ordered to pay a fine of $8 million.
Polls suggest that the Honduran election remains closely contested between three candidates, including Asfura, the former mayor of Tegucigalpa and leader of the National Party.
Also vying for the presidency are Rixi Moncada, a former defense minister representing the ruling left-wing Libre Party, and Salvador Nasralla, a television host with the centrist Liberal Party.
Trump criticized Moncada and Nasralla on Friday, labeling the latter as “a borderline Communist” purportedly aiming to divide the vote between Moncada and Asfura.
He characterized Asfura as “standing up for democracy” and commended him for campaigning against Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, with whom Trump has engaged in a series of public exchanges.
Nasralla has pledged to sever ties with Venezuela should he win the election.
At a press conference on Saturday, Moncada accused Trump of “interventionist” meddling, citing his endorsement of Asfura and his plans to pardon Hernández.
The Trump administration has previously accused Maduro, whose re-election last year was widely disputed, of leading a drug cartel.
Countering drug trafficking has been cited as justification for a military build-up in the Caribbean, as well as strikes on vessels purportedly used for smuggling, actions that some analysts have characterized as attempts to exert pressure on Latin American leaders.
Honduras has been governed by President Xiomara Castro since 2022, who has fostered close relationships with Cuba and Venezuela.
However, Castro has maintained a cooperative relationship with the U.S., upholding a long-standing extradition treaty. Her country also hosts a U.S. military base involved in targeting transnational organized crime in the region.
More than 80 people have been killed in U.S. strikes on vessels suspected of transporting narcotics since the operations began in August.
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has stated that the aim of “Operation Southern Spear” is to eliminate “narcoterrorists.”
Legal experts have raised concerns about the legality of the strikes, noting that the U.S. has not provided conclusive evidence that the targeted boats were carrying illicit drugs.
The war is being fuelled by regional powers and the US president may have some leverage over them.
People who left Afghanistan urge the US president not to toughen his stance after an attack allegedly carried out by an Afghan national.
Sarah Beckstrom, 20, succumbed to her injuries, while a second guardsman remains in critical condition, Donald Trump says.
Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Somalia and Venezuela are among the countries subject to the review.
The suspect had been recruited to Unit 03 of the Kandahar Strike Force, a former military commander told the BBC, coming to the US after the withdrawal.