TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Four years after being extradited to the United States for his drug trafficking trial, former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández returns to his country Sunday to face corruption charges that lawyers fear will be a sham process. Hernández, once considered an ally by the U.S. in the drug war, led Honduras from 2014 to 2022, during which he boasted that he would “shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos,” according to U.S. prosecutors.His extradition shortly after leaving office marked a rare chance at justice for Hondurans, who feared his hold on the country’s justice system would never allow a conviction on Honduran soil. But the former leader, sentenced to 45 years in prison in the United States, was released in December, to the shock of many in the U.S. and Honduras, after receiving a presidential pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump. He said Hernández did not receive a fair trial and that it was a setup orchestrated by the Biden administration.
Hernández now returns to the country to face corruption charges amid concerns that a weak justice system and his party’s return to the presidency will ensure his impunity.“There is a social majority that is outraged, but doesn’t speak out because of fear,” said Joaquín Mejía, lawyer and researcher for the human rights organization Reflection, Research and Communication Team. “We’re talking about the boss of all drug bosses.”
