Trump’s double standards? US prez pardons Honduras’s Juan Orlando Hernandez despite cocaine trafficking conviction but wages ‘war on drugs’ against Nicolas Maduro

Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez was released by the US authorities on Tuesday a day after President Donald Trump pardoned him. The Honduran leader was imprisoned for drug trafficking.

According to US federal prison data, Hernandez was released from a West Virginia detention centre, where he served more than three years in jail. In 2024, he was sentenced to 45 years for being involved in cocaine drug trafficking to the US.

Why did Trump pardon Juan Orlando Hernandez?

Announcing plans to pardon Juan Orlando Hernandez, Trump last week urged the people of Honduras to vote for the conservative candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura, who is a member of Hernandez’s National Party of Honduras. This has raised criticism over Trump’s intentions, with many questioning if his anti-drug stance.

Hernandez was Honduran president from 2014 to 2022. During his trial, the US prosecutors argued that he facilitated the export of around 400 tonnes of cocaine into the US.

When asked about the pardon, Trump said the people of Honduras “really thought he was set up and it was a terrible thing.” “They basically said he was a drug dealer because he was the president of the country. And they said it was a Biden administration set-up. And I looked at the facts, and I agreed with them,” he added.

Trump’s White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated his stance, saying Hernandez was a victim of “prosecutorial overreach”. She went on to claim that Hernandez was convicted as he opposed the “values of the previous administration”.

However, Trump’s own party members slammed him over the pardon. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy asked, “Why would we pardon this guy and then go after Maduro (Venezuela’s President) for running drugs into the United States?”

Trump has been threatening to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro over unverified claims that he is a narco boss. Some Republicans in the House raised concerns about US military actions off Venezuela’s coast, pledging to look into multiple strikes on one boat.