Former Honduran President Hernández Released from US Prison After Trump Pardon

Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, sentenced in the United States to 45 years in prison for drug trafficking, was released after receiving a pardon from President Donald Trump, his wife announced this Tuesday.

Hernández's pardon and release occur amid a U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean—an operation Washington states is aimed at curbing drug trafficking into the United States.

It also coincides with Trump's pressure in favor of right-wing candidate Nasry Asfura in Honduras' closely contested elections, which were held on Sunday and whose vote count continues.

Hernández, 57, was released from a prison in West Virginia on Monday and is "once again a free man," announced his wife, Ana García de Hernández, on social media.

Her husband was released Monday night and "transferred to a safe place," the former first lady stated shortly after to Honduras' Televicentro channel, following a video call with her spouse. "Very excited, together with our children, our mother-in-law, to be able to see him," she said.

The website of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons lists the release of a man matching the former president's name and age.

"Grateful" to Trump

According to the U.S. justice system, Hernández (2014-2022) facilitated the entry of hundreds of tons of drugs into the country and turned Honduras into a "narco-state."

However, Trump considers him a victim of a "setup" by his predecessor, Joe Biden, and that he was "treated very harshly and unfairly."

Since early September, the United States has been conducting a counter-narcotics operation in the Caribbean that has resulted in 83 deaths from the bombing of at least 20 suspected drug boats. Washington has not yet presented evidence to substantiate that the targets were indeed drug traffickers.

Juan Orlando Hernández, known by his initials JOH, governed Honduras between 2014 and 2022. He was extradited to the United States just weeks after leaving office, when the current president, leftist Xiomara Castro, assumed power.

In March 2024, a New York jury found him guilty of facilitating the entry into the United States of approximately 400 tons of cocaine—primarily from Colombia and Venezuela—through Honduras.

According to U.S. justice officials, these activities began in 2004, long before Hernández became president.

Release Amid Electoral Pressure

Hernández's pardon and release occurred before the results of the Honduran presidential election, held under significant pressure from Trump, are known.

The Republican entered the fray of the Central American country's electoral contest by urging votes for Asfura—from the same party as Hernández—under threat of cutting off cooperation with Honduras.

Asfura, a 67-year-old construction magnate and former mayor of the Honduran capital, is in a tight race against television presenter Salvador Nasralla of the right-wing Liberal Party.

Lawyer Rixi Moncada of the ruling Libre (left) party trails by 20 points. Following Trump's announcement, Asfura assured AFP that he has "no connection whatsoever" with Hernández.