Politics Ex-president of Honduras convicted as drug lord released
The former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted in the USA for large-scale drug trafficking, has been released from prison. This was reported by several US media outlets and can also be read on the prison authorities' website.
02.12.2025, 16:54
SDA
Hernández was President of Honduras between 2014 and 2022. He was extradited to the USA shortly after his term of office ended. According to the indictment, he allegedly turned Honduras into a drug state. The conservative politician is alleged to have helped drug smugglers - including the Mexican ex-cartel boss Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, who is in custody in the USA - to smuggle hundreds of thousands of kilograms of cocaine to the USA.
His wife thanked President Trump in a post on X. After almost four years, he is a free man again, wrote Ana García de Hernández. Hernández was originally sentenced to 45 years in prison in the USA. The US Department of Justice had written at the time that Hernández had abused his power as President of Honduras to support one of the largest and most violent drug trafficking conspiracies in the world.
Trump's government sees him treated unfairly by Biden
When asked on Monday why the Trump administration justified its action against Venezuela with drug charges against President Nicolás Maduro while releasing a convicted drug dealer, the White House stated that Hernández had been treated unfairly by the previous Biden administration. This was clearly a prosecution ordered by President Joe Biden, and the people of Honduras had emphasized to Trump that Hernández had been framed, said spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.
