Trump to pardon ex-Honduras leader serving US sentence after drug trafficking conviction

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said he will grant a pardon to former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who is serving a 45-year prison sentence in the U.S. after his conviction on drug trafficking and firearms charges, even as the Republican leader casts himself as being tough on combating drug problems.

AI Brief

Trump endorsed conservative candidate Nasry Asfura and warned US aid could stop if he loses.
He pledged a full pardon for ex-president Hernandez, convicted of drug-related bribery in the US.
Honduras faces a close election among Asfura, Rixi Moncada, and Salvador Nasralla amid concerns over electoral integrity.

In a post on Truth Social on Friday, Trump also reiterated his backing for Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Asfura of the conservative National Party and said "if he doesn't win, the United States will not be throwing good money."

Asfura's party forged a close partnership with Washington under Hernandez, who governed from 2014 to 2022 and was arrested shortly after leaving office.

A Manhattan jury found Hernandez guilty in March 2024 of accepting millions of dollars in bribes to protect U.S.-bound cocaine shipments belonging to traffickers he once publicly proclaimed to combat.

He was sentenced in June last year and called his conviction wrongful.

"I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly," Trump said in his post.

HONDURAN ELECTION REMAINS A TOSS-UP

Hondurans go to the polls on Sunday to vote in an election that remains a toss-up, with polls showing Asfura, the former mayor of the capital Tegucigalpa, virtually tied with former defense minister Rixi Moncada of the ruling leftist LIBRE Party, and television host Salvador Nasralla of the centrist Liberal Party.

Honduras has been governed since 2021 by President Xiomara Castro, who has forged close ties with Cuba and Venezuela, two countries mired in deep economic and human rights crises whose governments the Trump administration sees as dictatorships and has repeatedly criticized.

Whichever candidate wins a simple majority on Sunday will govern Honduras between 2026 and 2030. Some political analysts fear more than one candidate could claim victory.

The Organization of American States and Washington have raised concerns about Honduras' electoral process and said they are monitoring the election closely.