Five years after he was lavished with praise by Donald Trump for “stopping drugs at a level that has never happened” – and two years after he was extradited in shackles to the US – the former Honduras president Juan Orlando Hernández is to stand trial in New York on Monday, accused of overseeing a “narco-state” and accepting millions in bribes from drug traffickers, including the former leader of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
Hernández is the initial ex-president to be accused of drug trafficking in the United States since another former US ally, General Manuel Noriega of Panama, over 30 years ago.
This trial will likely be the most significant assessment thus far of the Drug Enforcement Agency’s approach to holding accountable government officials who aid in drug trafficking to the United States.
Hernández has refuted the allegations as retribution from drug cartels seeking payback for his anti-drug measures. He has also pointed to his collaboration and recognition from US authorities as proof of his innocence.
In 2013, during his initial bid for presidency, Hernández presented himself as tough on crime, highlighting his work as a lawmaker in getting a constitutional amendment passed that allowed for the extradition of Hondurans charged with drug-related offenses.
During this period, Honduras was descending into chaos and the majority of the cocaine that was being transported to the United States was going through the country.
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High numbers of Hondurans escaped the violence and traveled to the US border. The Obama administration viewed Hernández as a flawed but willing ally in regards to immigration and security measures.
Ricardo Zúñiga, a former high-ranking official at the state department, stated that Juan Orlando was widely recognized as being corrupt. However, he was not seen as a member of organized crime.
When Hernández took office in January 2014, a few DEA agents and prosecutors had already begun to have doubts.
In 2013, DEA agents were examining transcripts of intercepted phone conversations given to them by Honduran partners. One particular conversation became a topic of discussion in the office.
“A former DEA agent, who was stationed in Honduras during the incident, reported that one drug trafficker asked another, ‘Who are you supporting in the election?’ and the response was, ‘We support all of them.'”
“When the phone call was received, it was evident that the traffickers had no concerns about the outcome of the election as they had already bribed all involved parties.”
Shortly after, the possibility of being extradited caused a series of Honduran drug dealers to make agreements with the DEA, revealing the extent of their involvement in local politics. Just a few days after Hernández took office, one of the most infamous traffickers in the country secretly recorded a conversation with the president’s brother, lawmaker Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández.
In October 2016, there were speculations in the local media about Tony Hernández’s alleged involvement in drug trafficking. He stated that he would go to Miami to meet with the DEA and prove his innocence. However, he ended up committing perjury and revealing his ties to other traffickers.
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Prosecutors claim that Hernández made efforts to separate himself from his brother and increase his efforts to maintain a positive relationship with US authorities. The outcome of the November 2016 US presidential election, won by Donald Trump, aided in this effort.
In the following year, Hernández sought another term as president, despite it being prohibited by the constitution. The election in November 2017 was tainted by violence and accusations of cheating, allegedly aided by drug dealers according to prosecutors. The Secretary General of the Organization of American States called for a redo of the election, but the Trump administration granted Hernández the recognition necessary for him to win a second term in office.
In late 2018, law enforcement officers from the DEA detained Tony Hernández for charges related to the trafficking of drugs. This occurred after he took a risky trip to the United States. During his trial a year later, the prosecution presented most of their evidence against the ex-president in a public court setting. Tony Hernández was found guilty on all charges and received a life sentence in prison.
According to observers of the trial, it was evident that Hernández was a potential focus of the DEA, safeguarded only by an informal Department of Justice guideline preventing the prosecution of current presidents.
However, Washington continued to praise them.
Just under two months following the trial, former president Trump publicly praised Hernández at the 2019 Israeli American Council National Summit. He expressed gratitude towards the Honduran president and stated that they were closely collaborating with the United States. He also claimed that they were successfully preventing drug activity at an unprecedented rate.
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Upon assuming presidential office in January of 2021, Joe Biden no longer received praise. Zúñiga, who was selected as envoy for Central America, stated that it was evident that US attorneys were aiming to pursue him.
Zúñiga clarified that it was only after Hernández’s party lost by a large margin in the election that the Department of Justice officially notified the state department of their plans.
A couple of weeks following his arrest, Hernández, dressed in a blue suit and a neatly ironed white shirt reminiscent of the colors of the Honduran flag, was seated in a Tegucigalpa courthouse. He implored the judge presiding over his case to make a decision on whether he would be extradited or not.
Based on a report read by the Guardian, the ex-president mentioned his extensive collaboration with US officials on anti-drug and immigration strategies, pointing out the conflicting nature of the praise he received and the allegations made against him.
He expressed disappointment with the process of extradition, which he had previously touted as one of his top accomplishments. He also saw it as proof of his innocence.
Hernández stated that if the extradition is granted, he would face a life sentence.
Source: theguardian.com
