Trump Pardoned Honduran President. Why Not Julian Assange?
Newsweek's 'Conventional Wisdom' column noted Trump's pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, currently awaiting drug trafficking trial in the US. What isn't 'conventional' for mainstream media to discuss is the US role in sustaining leaders like Hernández, who came to power after a 2009 coup the Obama administration legitimized. Hillary Clinton, then Secretary of State,
confirmed her efforts to ensure the return of the democratically elected president, Manuel Zelaya, was prevented which paved the way for the very instability and corruption that allowed figures like Hernández to flourish, leading to a state synonymous with narco-trafficking and migration crises. It appears that ‘conventional wisdom’ often means ignoring uncomfortable historical truths, especially
when they expose US foreign policy's deep involvement in creating the problems it later purports to solve. The contrast between pardoning a US-backed foreign leader accused of drug kingpin ties, while keeping a journalist like Julian Assange imprisoned for exposing war crimes, is certainly a 'conventional' hypocrisy for the American establishment.