In a dramatic intervention just days before Honduras chooses its next leader, former US President Donald Trump has pardoned convicted drug trafficker and former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández while issuing a stark warning about American aid to the Central American nation.
Trump's Political Gambit in Honduras
Donald Trump made his move on Friday through a social media post that simultaneously pardoned the disgraced former Honduran leader and threw his weight behind Nasry Asfura, the candidate from Hernández's right-wing party. The timing couldn't be more significant, coming just before Sunday's presidential vote in the strategically important Latin American country.
Trump didn't mince words about the consequences of an unfavorable outcome. On his Truth Social platform, he declared, "If he doesn't win, the United States will not be throwing good money after bad, because a wrong leader can only bring catastrophic results to a country, no matter which country it is." This marks the second time in recent weeks that Trump has employed this tactic, having issued a similar warning before Argentina's election last month.
The Controversial Pardon and Its Background
Juan Orlando Hernández's case represents one of the most significant convictions of a foreign leader in US courts. The former Honduran president, who governed from 2014 to 2022, was found guilty by a New York jury in March 2024 for his role in helping move nearly 400 tonnes of cocaine from Colombia and Venezuela into the United States since 2004 - years before he assumed presidency.
After leaving office when current President Xiomara Castro took power, Hernández was quickly extradited to the United States where he received a 45-year prison sentence. Former US attorney general Merrick Garland stated that Hernández had "abused his office to support a major drug-trafficking conspiracy."
Trump's justification for the pardon claimed that Hernández had been treated "very harshly and unfairly," though he provided no additional explanation for this controversial decision that comes amid Washington's ongoing large anti-drug operation in Latin America.
Three-Way Election Battle and Trump's Warnings
The Honduran presidential race features three main contenders in a tight contest. Trump's preferred candidate, 67-year-old Nasry Asfura, is a construction businessman and former mayor of Tegucigalpa representing the right-wing National Party.
He faces competition from leftist lawyer Rixi Moncada and right-wing TV host Salvador Nasralla, 72, whom Trump accused of acting as a spoiler who would split the conservative vote. Trump pointed to Nasralla's previous service as Castro's vice president before resigning, claiming he is now "pretending" to be anti-Communist.
The former US president didn't spare Moncada either, labeling her a "communist" and asserting that her victory would benefit Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro and "his Narcoterrorists." This intervention highlights the ongoing geopolitical tensions in Latin America, where the United States maintains significant strategic interests.
The timing of Trump's announcement and the controversial pardon of a convicted drug trafficker raises serious questions about foreign interference in sovereign elections and the future of US-Honduras relations regardless of Sunday's outcome.
