The former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, sentenced in 2024 to 45 years in prison in the United States for drug trafficking and possession of weapons, will be pardoned by former US President Donald Trump.
Trump justified his decision arguing that Hernández was “treated very harshly and unfairly” according to his criteria and that of close advisors.
Hernández was found guilty in a New York federal court of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and on charges related to weapons.
The pardon announcement coincides with the upcoming presidential elections in Honduras, in which Trump supports the conservative candidate Nasry Asfura, a former collaborator of the Hernández government. Analysts point out that the decision has significant political implications in the electoral context.
Hernandez’s defense thanked the pardon and noted that it represents a correction to what they consider an injustice, trusting in a possible restart of diplomatic relations between Honduras and the United States.
