Trump to Pardon Honduran Drug Kingpin We Helped Install
Hernández, whose brother, Tony, was also convicted on drug charges, was a key figure in the Honduran government following the 2009 US-backed coup against democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya. The Obama-Biden administration, with then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the helm, quickly legitimized the coup government, despite widespread international condemnation and democratic
rollback. Hernández then benefited from a rigged 2017 election, again endorsed by the US, despite overwhelming evidence of fraud and violence against protesters by US-trained security forces. So, the US government backed a corrupt regime, knowing full well its ties to narco-trafficking networks—Hernández even named a prominent drug trafficker as his security minister. Now, a sitting presidential
candidate might pardon him. One might wonder if this is an admission of guilt, or just another chapter in America's long-standing tradition of supporting (and then occasionally sweeping under the rug) leaders who facilitate our 'interests,' even if those 'interests' involve massive quantities of cocaine. It's almost as if 'democracy promotion' in Latin America has always been a thinly veiled
euphemism for geopolitical convenience, consequences be damned.