According to a U.S. prosecutor, former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez was involved with drug traffickers who provided him with millions of dollars in bribes to help him rise to power. This revelation was made on Wednesday during the opening statement at Hernandez’s trial in New York.
Hernandez was known for his close ties to Washington during his time in office from 2014 to 2022. During his presidency, Honduras received over $50 million in U.S. anti-narcotics assistance, as well as tens of millions more in security and military aid. He also garnered support from former President Donald Trump for his efforts to crackdown on migration.
However, three months after leaving office, federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged him with accepting bribes from cocaine traffickers in exchange for using his political position to protect them. Attorney General Merrick Garland accused Hernandez of turning the country into a “narco-state” through the abuse of his power.
Prosecutor David Robles stated that Hernandez, 55, had been collaborating with major drug traffickers in Honduras to send large amounts of cocaine to the United States. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty, and his defense is expected to present its opening statement during the trial.
The defense has argued that drug traffickers sought to tarnish Hernandez’s name in order to receive leniency and to take revenge for his administration’s law enforcement efforts. Robles recognized that Hernandez publicly claimed to fight drug trafficking and worked with the United States in doing so.
But according to the prosecutor, behind the scenes, Hernandez ensured that drug traffickers loyal to him were protected. One of the traffickers Hernandez is said to have protected is his own brother, former congressman Tony Hernandez, who was convicted on U.S. drug charges in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison.
In February, two co-defendants, Hernandez’s cousin Mauricio Hernandez and former Honduras national police chief Juan Carlos Bonilla, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges. If Hernandez is found guilty on all counts, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 40 years and could receive a life sentence. The trial started with jury selection on Tuesday and is expected to last between two and three weeks.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
