US Decries 'Kidnapping' While Pardoning Coup-Enabler
The Hill's opinion piece highlights the US government's selective outrage: demanding Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro face drug charges while pardoning former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, implicated in drug trafficking. What they won't tell you is the US played a critical role in installing Hernández. Post-2009 Honduran coup—which Hillary Clinton's State Department notoriously
greenlit—the country spiraled into narcostate territory, setting the stage for leaders like Hernández to flourish under Washington's 'democratic' watch. This isn't mere hypocrisy; it's a feature. The US has a long tradition of labeling foreign leaders 'dictators' and 'drug kingpins' when they refuse to bend to Washington's will, while embracing figures like Hernández who serve US interests,
regardless of their actual criminal entanglements. One might wonder if 'democracy' simply means 'whoever we pick wins,' especially when US corporations eye resources. How many times must the US 'liberate' a nation into a narco-hell before we call it policy, not paradox?