US President Donald Trump made a dramatic move on Friday, just days before Honduras votes for a new president. He pardoned former Honduran leader Juan Orlando Hernandez, who is serving a long prison term in the United States. He also warned that he may stop US support for Honduras if his chosen candidate does not win.
Trump said he would pardon Hernandez, who was convicted in a US court last year on drug trafficking charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison.
Hernandez governed Honduras from 2014 to 2022. US prosecutors accused him of helping move around 400 tons of cocaine into the United States. He was extradited only weeks after leaving office, once President Xiomara Castro took power.
Trump Backs Asfura, Issues Warning
Trump made his announcement in a social media post. He declared strong support for Nasry Asfura, the right-wing candidate from Hernandez’s party, ahead of Sunday’s election.
He had already endorsed Asfura earlier. But this time he went further, tying future US aid to Asfura’s victory. He wrote, “If he doesn’t win, the United States will not be throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader can only bring catastrophic results to a country, no matter which country it is.”
Trump issued a similar warning before Argentina’s elections last month.
Asfura told AFP that he had no connection to Hernandez but welcomed Trump’s support. He said Hernandez “was president of the Republic, the party is not responsible for his personal actions.”
A Tight Three-Way Contest
Asfura, 67, is a construction businessman and a former mayor of Tegucigalpa. He is competing in a close race against leftist lawyer Rixi Moncada and right-wing TV host Salvador Nasralla.
Trump accused Nasralla, 72, of running only to divide the right-wing vote. He said Nasralla “is now pretending to be an anti-Communist only for the purposes of splitting Asfura’s vote.” Nasralla previously served as Vice President under President Castro before resigning.
Trump also attacked Moncada. He called her a “communist” and said her victory would please Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro “and his Narcoterrorists.”
Pardon Rebukes US Anti-Drug Efforts
Trump’s decision to pardon Hernandez stands out because the US has been conducting a large anti-drug operation in Latin America. The campaign has led to more than 80 deaths in strikes carried out in international waters.
Hernandez was convicted in New York in March 2024. The jury found that he helped smuggle hundreds of tons of cocaine—mainly from Colombia and Venezuela—through Honduras since 2004, long before he became president.
After the sentencing, former US President Joe Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, said Hernandez had “abused his power to support one of the largest and most violent drug trafficking conspiracies in the world.”
On Friday, Trump defended his decision. He claimed Hernandez “has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly,” though he did not explain further.