Washington / Tegucigalpa: Former US President Donald Trump announced that he will pardon Juan Orlando Hernández, the ex-president of Honduras, who was convicted of drug trafficking and weapons charges in a US court last year.
Trump made the announcement via a Truth Social post on Friday, calling Hernández’s treatment “very harsh and unfair” and congratulating him on the pending pardon.
Hernández, a member of Honduras’s National Party, served as president from 2014 to 2022. He was extradited to the United States in April 2022 and tried for running a violent drug trafficking conspiracy that involved shipping hundreds of tons of cocaine to the US. In March 2024, a New York jury convicted him, sentencing him to 45 years in prison.
In the same post, Trump also voiced support for conservative candidate Tito Asfura in the upcoming Honduran general election scheduled for Sunday. He criticised other candidates, including Rixi Moncada of the leftist LIBRE Party and Salvador Nasralla of the centrist Liberal Party, calling Nasralla a “borderline Communist” and accusing him of splitting the vote. Trump described Asfura as a candidate “standing up for democracy” and opposing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom Trump has accused of leading a drug cartel.
Background and Regional Context
Since 2022, Honduras has been governed by President Xiomara Castro of the LIBRE Party, who has maintained ties with Cuba and Venezuela while preserving a cooperative relationship with the United States. Honduras continues to host a US military base involved in targeting transnational organised crime, including cocaine trafficking.
In August 2025, the US launched a counternarcotics operation targeting vessels allegedly transporting drugs from Venezuela, part of Operation Southern Spear, which aims to remove “narcoterrorists” from the Western Hemisphere. While more than 80 people have reportedly died in these strikes, legal experts have questioned their legality, noting a lack of public evidence that the vessels carried drugs.
Honduran Election Outlook
Polls indicate the election remains highly competitive, with Asfura, Moncada, and Nasralla vying for the presidency. Trump’s endorsement of Asfura adds a high-profile international dimension to the race, reflecting the US’s continuing influence in Central American politics.
