Exclusive Interview: Former Honduran President, sentenced to 45 years in U.S. for trafficking 400 tons of cocaine, discusses Trump's pardon

Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who served from 2014 to 2022, is serving a 45-year prison sentence in the United States for his role in a major international drug trafficking conspiracy. The U.S. Department of Justice stated that Hernández "abused his positions and authority in Honduras to facilitate the importation of more than 400 tons of cocaine into the United States."

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Hernández abused his positions and authority in Honduras to facilitate the importation of more than 400 tons of cocaine into the United States.

During his trial, prosecutors presented testimony from convicted drug traffickers who implicated Hernández in a decisive role in the trafficking operations. They alleged that his associates used weapons, including machine guns and grenade launchers, to protect cocaine shipments. Hernández, however, maintains his innocence and claims he was not allowed to present evidence in his defense.

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Hernández was treated very harshly and unfairly.

In a surprising move last November, then-President Donald Trump pardoned Hernández, calling his trial "a setup" and asserting that Hernández had been treated "very harshly and unfairly." Trump's decision came as he himself accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of leading a drug trafficking organization.

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Always I had the faith that the farce was going to fall, because I was always aware that I was innocent. I knew that the truth was going to come to light.

Speaking in an exclusive interview from an undisclosed location in Florida, Hernández denounced his case as a conspiracy orchestrated by Honduran "drug traffickers and politicians" along with "the left of the Democratic Party" to prevent the "radical left" from taking power in Honduras, referring to the current government of Xiomara Castro. He expressed a desire to return to Honduras but stated that a "political persecution operation" exists against him there. He is currently not prioritizing a return to politics or running for office.

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I never saw the pardon as a measure of clemency, I saw it as the opportunity for the president of the United States, using his constitutional authority, to reverse the injustice that was committed against me.