Current:Home > MarketsHonduran ex-president accused of running his country as a ‘narco-state’ set to stand trial in NYC-LoTradeCoin
Honduran ex-president accused of running his country as a ‘narco-state’ set to stand trial in NYC
View Date:2024-12-23 20:11:03
NEW YORK (AP) — Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was once touted by U.S. authorities as a key ally in the war on drugs. Now, federal prosecutors say the political leader ran his Central American nation as a “narco-state,” collecting millions of dollars from violent cartels to fuel his rise to power.
Nearly two years after his arrest and extradition to the U.S., Hernández is now set to stand trial in Manhattan federal court on drug trafficking and weapons charges. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday.
It’s a stunning fall from grace for a political leader long viewed — by Democratic and Republican administrations alike — as beneficial to American interests in the region, including combatting the illegal drug trade and helping slow the waves of migrants crossing the southern U.S. border.
That Hernández is being tried in the U.S. rather than his native country underscores Honduras’ institutional weakness, says Raúl Pineda Alvarado, a Honduran political analyst and former three-term congressman from Hernández’s National Party.
“For Hondurans it signifies how weak our democracy is in terms of the separation of powers,” he said. “Politicians are not subject to any control.”
Federal authorities say that for nearly two decades, Hernández profited from drug trades that brought hundreds of thousands of kilos of cocaine into the U.S., even at times working with the powerful Sinaloa cartel in Mexico.
The millions of dollars in drug money that began flowing to Hernández starting around 2004, in turn, powered his rise from a congressman representing his rural home province in western Honduras to president of the National Congress and then two consecutive presidential terms from 2014 to 2022, prosecutors say.
In exchange for bribes that propped up his political aspirations, U.S. prosecutors say, drug traffickers were allowed to operate in the country with near impunity, receiving information to evade authorities and even law enforcement escorts for their shipments.
During his first winning presidential campaign, Hernández solicited $1.6 million from a drug trafficker to support his run and those of other politicians in his conservative political party, federal prosecutors say.
His brother also received a $1 million campaign donation from notorious Sinaloa boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán on the promise the cartel’s drug shipments would find safe passage through Honduras if Hernández was elected.
Federal prosecutors in New York spent years working their way up through Honduran drug trafficking organizations before reaching the person many believed was at the very pinnacle — Hernández.
He was arrested at his home in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, in February 2022, just three months after leaving office, and was extradited to the U.S. in April that year.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said at the time that Hernández abused his position as president “to operate the country as a narco-state.”
Hernández’s lawyers declined to comment ahead of the trial, in which prosecutors are expected to rely on testimony from drug traffickers and corrupt Honduran law enforcement officials and politicians.
The former president, who earned a master’s degree from the State University of New York at Albany, has steadfastly maintained his innocence, saying the allegations are revenge from drug traffickers he had extradited to the U.S.
Hernández faces federal charges including drug trafficking conspiracy and possession of machine guns and destructive devices.
Meanwhile his co-defendants — the former head of the Honduran national police, Juan Carlos Bonilla, and Hernández’s cousin, Mauricio Hernández Pineda — both pleaded guilty in recent weeks to drug trafficking charges in the same Manhattan courtroom where he’s set to be tried.
___
Associated Press editor Christopher Sherman in Mexico City contributed to this report.
___
Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.
veryGood! (9)
Related
- Dave Coulier Says He's OK If This Is the End Amid Stage 3 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Battle
- TikTok is hit with $368 million fine under Europe’s strict data privacy rules
- Biden announces more Iran sanctions on anniversary of Mahsa Amini death
- They worked for years in Libya. Now an Egyptian village mourns scores of its men killed in flooding
- The Cowboys, claiming to be 'all in' prior to Dak Prescott's injury, are in a rare spot: Irrelevance
- Climate change could bring more monster storms like Hurricane Lee to New England
- Blac Chyna Marks One Year of Sobriety With Subtle Nod to Daughter Dream and Son King
- Cara Delevingne Channels Her Inner Rockstar With a Colorful, Spiky Hair Transformation
- US Open finalist Taylor Fritz talks League of Legends, why he hated tennis and how he copied Sampras
- Hawaii officials say DNA tests drop Maui fire death count to 97
Ranking
- Barbora Krejcikova calls out 'unprofessional' remarks about her appearance
- Louisiana moves juveniles from adult penitentiary but continues to fight court order to do so
- A deputy fatally shot a dentist who fired gunshots outside a strip club, officials say
- Us or change: World Cup champions give ultimatum to Spain's soccer federation
- Former NFL coach Jack Del Rio charged with operating vehicle while intoxicated
- Jury clears 3 men in the last trial tied to the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
- Fall fever is upon us: Häagen-Dazs brings back Pumpkin Spice Shake in time to celebrate
- U.N. says most Libya flooding deaths could have been avoided, as officials warn the toll could still soar
Recommendation
-
California teen pleads guilty in Florida to making hundreds of ‘swatting’ calls across the US
-
Tinder wants to bring Saweetie to your college campus. How to enter 'Swipe Off' challenge.
-
As UAW strike begins, autoworkers want to 'play hardball'
-
Warnock calls on Atlanta officials to be more transparent about ‘Stop Cop City’ referendum
-
Colorado police shot, kill mountain lion after animal roamed on school's campus
-
Security forces are seen across Iran as country prepares for anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death
-
Sia Details “Severe” Depression for 3 Years After Divorce From Erik Anders Lang
-
Blac Chyna Marks One Year of Sobriety With Subtle Nod to Daughter Dream and Son King