Trump Pledges Pardon for Honduran Ex-President Convicted on Drug Charges

President Trump announced Friday his intention to pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who is currently serving a 45-year prison sentence in the United States for drug trafficking offenses. The announcement comes just days before Honduras holds its presidential election on Sunday.

“I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Hernández was convicted in March 2024 on charges of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and related weapons offenses. According to prosecutors, he facilitated the movement of approximately 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S. during his time in office, which spanned from 2014 to 2022.

The pardon announcement was paired with Trump’s endorsement of presidential candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura, the National Party nominee and former mayor of Tegucigalpa, Honduras’ capital city. Trump expressed confidence that the U.S. would have a supportive relationship with Honduras under Asfura’s leadership.

“This cannot be allowed to happen, especially now, after Tito Asfura wins the Election, when Honduras will be on its way to Great Political and Financial Success,” Trump added, referring to Hernández’s imprisonment.

The timing of Trump’s announcement is significant as Hondurans prepare to vote in a tightly contested election. According to recent polls reported by Reuters, Asfura is virtually tied with ruling party candidate Rixi Moncada and Liberal Party candidate Salvador Nasralla. The winner will govern the Central American nation from 2026 to 2030.

In a separate post, Trump criticized Asfura’s opponents, particularly Moncada, claiming she considers former Cuban leader Fidel Castro her “idol.” He also accused Nasralla of being a “borderline Communist” attempting to split Asfura’s vote.

“His chief opponent is Rixi Moncada, who says Fidel Castro is her idol,” Trump wrote. “Normally, the smart people of Honduras, would reject her, and elect Tito Asfura, but the Communists are trying to trick the people by running a third Candidate, Salvador Nasralla.”

Trump further claimed that Nasralla is “pretending to be an anti-Communist only for the purposes of splitting Asfura’s vote.” Nasralla previously served as vice president under current Honduran President Xiomara Castro before resigning from the position.

Honduras has been led by Castro since 2022, when she became the country’s first female president. Her administration followed that of Hernández, whose extradition to the United States in April 2022 came just months after he left office.

The planned pardon represents another significant foreign policy move by the incoming Trump administration, which has already signaled major shifts in U.S. approach to Latin America. Trump has recently made headlines for suggesting potential military action in Colombia and indicating openness to talks with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

U.S. prosecutors had portrayed Hernández as a key figure who leveraged his political power to facilitate drug trafficking operations. His conviction was seen as a major victory in U.S. efforts to combat narcotics trafficking through Central America, a region that serves as a crucial transit point for drugs headed to North American markets.

The pardon, if implemented, would mark an extraordinary reversal in U.S. policy toward Honduras and could significantly impact relations with a country that has struggled with corruption, drug trafficking, and poverty—issues that have contributed to migration northward toward the U.S. border.

Sunday’s election will determine whether Honduras continues on its current political trajectory under Castro’s leftist party or returns to the National Party, which governed during Hernández’s controversial tenure.