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President Donald Trump has announced a pardon for former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, a convicted narco-trafficker serving a 45-year sentence in the United States.
On November 28, former President Donald Trump declared his intention to pardon Juan Orlando Hernández, the former Honduran president, who was convicted in 2024 in a New York court for aiding in the trafficking of approximately 400 tons of cocaine into the United States. Trump argued that Hernández had been “treated very harshly and unfairly.” During his presidency, Hernández channeled over half a million dollars in contracts to the Republican lobbying firm BGR Group after his brother, Tony Hernández, was sentenced to life imprisonment for cocaine trafficking. Subsequently, BGR contributed substantial donations to Marco Rubio, who currently serves as Trump’s Secretary of State.
U.S. prosecutors have previously painted Hernández as a pivotal figure in transforming Honduras into a significant narco-state. They alleged that he exerted enormous influence and collaborated with some of the most notorious drug traffickers in Honduras, enabling them to thrive under his administration’s control. A 2023 investigation conducted by the Grayzone revealed that U.S. officials were long aware of Hernández’s alleged connections to drug trafficking but continued to support his government, even as legal documents detailed his extensive involvement with drug lords.
Years before, Trump had publicly commended Hernández at the Israeli American Council National Summit, praising the Honduran leader for “working with the United States very closely” in efforts to curb drug flow at the southern border.
After the pardon announcement, Hernández’s pastor shared with Honduran media that the decision was due in part to the “friendship” between Trump and Hernández, highlighting the personal ties influencing the pardon decision. Despite the U.S. clearing him of charges, Honduran authorities stated that investigations into Hernández’s alleged crimes within the country remain ongoing, and he is likely to face arrest upon returning to Honduras.
Alongside the pardon, Trump intervened in Honduras’ forthcoming election, urging voters to support National Party candidate Tito Asfura. The National Party has faced accusations of ties to drug money and electoral fraud in the past. Trump warned via Truth Social that, “If Tito Asfura wins for President of Honduras… we will be very supportive. If he doesn’t win, the United States will not be throwing good money after bad,” threatening to withdraw economic assistance should Hondurans elect a different candidate.
Two days earlier, he had urged voters on social media to back Asfura, calling him “the only real friend of Freedom in Honduras” while labeling ruling Libre Party candidate Rixi Moncada a Fidel Castro admirer and describing Liberal Party contender Salvador Nasralla as a “borderline Communist.”
The pardon also comes against a broader backdrop of U.S.-linked efforts to shape Honduran politics. Leaked recordings released by the Libre party this fall captured senior National Party figures allegedly plotting to delay vote transmission, manufacture perceptions of fraud, and lean on NGOs, international observers, and the U.S. Embassy to invalidate a Libre victory and force a new election.
The conversations, which referenced “tools that the people at the Embassy gave us,” outlined a strategy to present Nasralla as the initial winner and then demand outside intervention when results shifted.
Hernández’s National Party first consolidated power after a 2009 U.S.-backed coup and later retained control through a 2017 election marred by a suspicious blackout at the vote-tallying center, followed by a sudden reversal that delivered him a second term; the Trump administration quickly recognized his victory.
Now, after Hernández’s U.S. conviction for massive cocaine smuggling, Trump’s decision to free him — combined with economic threats aimed at pushing Hondurans toward a party long tied to narco-trafficking and electoral manipulation — cements Washington’s direct role in shaping the country’s political future.
