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, Trump said he would pardon Hernández, who was convicted in a New York court in 2024 for helping move roughly 400 tons of cocaine into the United States in coordination with the Sinaloa cartel, claiming the ex-leader had been “treated very harshly and unfairly.” As president of Honduras, Hernández funneled more than half a million dollars in contracts to Republican lobbying shop BGR Group after his brother, Tony Hernández, received a life sentence for cocaine trafficking; BGR later donated tens of thousands of dollars to Marco Rubio, who now serves as Trump’s secretary of state.
U.S. prosecutors previously described Hernández as a central figure in turning Honduras into a premier narco-state, alleging he “wielded incredible influence and partnered with some of the most notorious narcotics traffickers in Honduras, allowing them to flourish under their control.” A 2023 Grayzone investigation reported that U.S. officials long knew about Hernández’s alleged drug ties but backed his government anyway, even as indictments described his deep involvement with traffickers.
Trump had publicly praised Hernández years earlier at the Israeli American Council National Summit, telling the audience the Honduran leader was “working with the United States very closely” to stop drugs at the southern border.
Following the pardon announcement, Hernández’s pastor told Honduran media that the outcome was because “Donald Trump was and is a friend of Juan Orlando,” underscoring the personal relationship behind the decision. Honduran authorities responded that investigations into Hernández’s alleged crimes at home remain open and indicated he would likely be taken into custody on his return despite being cleared of U.S. charges.
Trump paired the pardon with direct interference in Honduras’ upcoming election, demanding voters elect National Party candidate Tito Asfura, whose party has been repeatedly linked to drug money and past election fraud. “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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, threatening to cut economic support if Hondurans choose another 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.
