Trump Pardons Convicted Drug Lord Because 'Best People' Never Age Out
Bloomberg noted Donald Trump delivered on his promise, pardoning Juan Orlando Hernandez, a former Honduran leader serving a 45-year drug trafficking sentence. This decision seems to conveniently gloss over the fact that Hernandez's regime was long propped up by US foreign policy, despite overwhelming evidence of corruption and links to cartels already surfacing during his tenure. The US
government, including the Trump administration, previously certified his anti-drug efforts even as his brother, Tony Hernandez, was convicted in New York for drug trafficking just before J.O.H.'s own indictment. It makes one wonder: Is the US commitment to fighting drug trafficking only as strong as its geopolitical convenience? How many 'allies' do we continue to support while their families
traffic narcotics, only to 'discover' their criminality years later when they’re no longer useful? The revolving door of US-backed strongmen and subsequent pardons seems less about justice and more about maintaining pliable regimes, no matter the human cost. Justice, it appears, is just another negotiating chip.