EXPLAINER: Ex-Honduras leader long in US prosecutors' sights
Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernรกndez was arrested at the request of the United States on drug trafficking charges Tuesday and a Honduran judge will decide if he is eventually extradited to stand trial in the U.S. While Hernรกndez was president, he was untouchable for Hondurasโ co-opted justice system and successive U.S. administrations made no move alienate him.
A stunning fall for ex-Honduran president wanted in US
The arrest of former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernรกndez and the images of a leader shackled and paraded before cameras like a common criminal are a stunning reversal for a man who for years seemed impervious to growing allegations of corruption.
US wants life in prison for brother of Honduras president
โThe defendant was a Honduran congressman who, along with his brother Juan Orlando Hernรกndez, played a leadership role in a violent, state sponsored drug trafficking conspiracy,โ prosecutors wrote. AdThe U.S. government wants Tony Hernรกndez to give up $138.5 million in โblood moneyโ from his drug trafficking and pay an additional $10 million fine. They say he also sold weapons to drug traffickers, some of which came from Hondurasโ military, and controlled drug laboratories in Colombia and Honduras. They allege that among those bribes was $1 million from notorious Mexican capo Joaquin โEl Chapoโ Guzman to Juan Orlando Hernรกndez. In those, Fuentes admitted knowing drug traffickers but denied having paid any money to president Hernรกndez.
Accountant testifies he saw Honduras president take bribes
The accountant said he felt fear seeing Hernรกndez and a drug trafficker sitting at the same table. โI was seeing the candidate for the presidency meeting with a drug trafficker,โ he said. That alleged drug trafficker was Geovanny Fuentes Ramรญrez, whose New York trial is in its second week. The accountant testified that that movement of drugs would be done with the help of the military and police. In another meeting at the companyโs offices without Fuentes Ramรญrez present, Hernรกndez boasted about siphoning money from Hondurasโ social security system, the accountant testified.
Hondurans await results in primary elections
(AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)TEGUCIGALPA โ Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernรกndezโs name keeps popping up in the New York trial of an alleged drug trafficker. And one of the candidates running to replace him in Sundayโs primary elections has been convicted in the same court of laundering money for the same cartel. Polls closed at 5 p.m. and the vote count had begun, but there was no immediate word on when results would be available. Political analyst and three-time former presidential candidate Olban Valladares said the elections are an opportunity for Hondurans to begin to free themselves of failed leaders. But voters will also choose the candidates who will compete for the 128 seats of the National Congress in November, as well as 298 local governments and other positions.
Drug trafficker says he bribed Honduras president
FILE - In this Jan. 14, 2020, file photo, Honduras' President Juan Orlando Hernandez arrives for the swearing-in ceremony for Guatemala's new President Alejandro Giammattei at the National Theater in Guatemala City. AdThe accusation came in the third day of testimony in the trial of alleged drug trafficker Geovanny Fuentes Ramรญrez. U.S. prosecutors have made it clear that allegations against President Hernรกndez would arise during the trial, though he has not been charged. During that trial, the president was accused of accepting more than $1 million from Mexican drug trafficker Joaquรญn โEl Chapoโ Guzmรกn. Alvarez said that he had never taken money from Rivera Maradiaga, who called the politicians he allegedly bribed โnarco-politicians.โAdโI donโt have anything to hide,โ Alvarez wrote.
US prosecutors allege Honduras president helped move drugs
โThey plotted to send as much cocaine as possible to the United States,โ Gutwillig said of the president and Fuentes Ramรญrez. But much of the prosecutorsโ artillery appears aimed at Hernรกndez, who they said helped Fuentes Ramรญrezโs drug trafficking along with other high-ranking officials. Prosecutors have previously said that Fuentes Ramรญrez paid Hernรกndez $25,000 to be allowed to move drugs through the country without interference. He says that the allegations against him come from drug traffickers seeking revenge and looking to lighten their sentences. He has said Fuentes Ramรญrez had weapons and body guards because Honduras is a dangerous country.
Honduras leader warns drug cooperation with US endangered
FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019 file photo, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks to the reporters as he leaves a meeting at the Organization of American States, in Washington. Newly proposed U.S. legislation introduced Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, targets Orlando Hernandez as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)TEGUCIGALPร โ TEGUCIGALPรHonduran President Juan Orlando Hernรกndez says that antinarcotics cooperation with the United States could โcollapseโ if U.S. authorities believe โfalse testimonyโ accusing him of cooperating with traffickers. Earlier this month, U.S. prosecutors filed documents in an upcoming trial suggesting the president himself was under investigation. One of his numerous brothers, Juan Antonio โTonyโ Hernรกndez, was convicted in New York of a drug conspiracy in 2019.
Honduras leader warns drug cooperation with US endangered
FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019 file photo, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks to the reporters as he leaves a meeting at the Organization of American States, in Washington. Newly proposed U.S. legislation introduced Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, targets Orlando Hernandez as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)TEGUCIGALPร โ TEGUCIGALPรHonduran President Juan Orlando Hernรกndez warned Wednesday that antinarcotics cooperation with the United States could โcollapseโ if U.S. authorities believe โfalse testimonyโ in U.S. courts accusing him of cooperating with traffickers. He suggested that traffickers were trying to manipulate U.S. authorities into helping them take vengeance on the Honduran officials pursuing them. One of his numerous brothers, Juan Antonio โTonyโ Hernรกndez, was convicted in New York of a drug conspiracy in 2019.
Proposed US legislation would target Honduras president
FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019 file photo, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks to the reporters as he leaves a meeting at the Organization of American States, in Washington. Newly proposed U.S. legislation introduced Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, targets Orlando Hernandez as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)MEXICO CITY โ Newly proposed U.S. legislation targets Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernรกndez as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. As the administration of President Joe Biden seeks to return the issues of corruption and human rights to relations with Honduras and other Central American countries, a group of Democratic senators says the U.S. governmentโs relationship with Honduras must change. Under the administration of President Donald Trump, immigration overshadowed everything else in the relationship.
US motions expand drug claims against Honduras president
(UNTV via AP)NEW YORK โ U.S. federal prosecutors have filed motions saying that Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernรกndez took bribes from drug traffickers and had the country's armed forces protect a cocaine laboratory and shipments to the United States. The documents quote Hernรกndez as saying he wanted to โ'shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos' by flooding the United States with cocaine." The motions filed Friday with the U.S. Southern District of New York do not specifically name the president, referring to him as โCC-4,โ or co-conspirator No. During that trial, the president was accused of accepting more than $1 million from Mexican drug trafficker Joaquรญn โEl Chapoโ Guzmรกn โ an accusation repeated in the new motions. At this time, CC-4 was pursuing election as the President of Honduras as a member of the Partido Nacional de Honduras (the โNational Partyโ),โ the motion said.
Macron is the latest world leader to catch COVID-19
French President Emmanuel Macron reacts as he meets Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020 in Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for COVID-19, the presidential Elysee Palace announced on Thursday. DONALD TRUMPPresident Donald Trump announced in October that he and his wife, first lady Melania Trump, tested positive for the coronavirus. BORIS JOHNSONThe British prime minister was the first major world leader confirmed to have COVID-19, after facing criticism for downplaying the pandemic. Other top officials in former Soviet states who were infected include Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
President Trump joins growing list of virus-infected world leaders
He was moved to intensive care in April after his virus symptoms dramatically worsened a day after he was hospitalized for what were called routine tests. (Pippa Fowles/10 Downing Street via AP, File)JOHANNESBURG โ President Donald Trump has joined a growing group of world leaders who have been infected with the coronavirus. BORIS JOHNSONThe British prime minister was the first major world leader confirmed to have COVID-19, after facing criticism for downplaying the pandemic. Other top officials in former Soviet states who were infected include Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. GAMBIAVice President Isatou Touray tested positive in July along with the ministers of finance, energy and agriculture.
Why Hondurans are taking to the streets or leaving the country
CNN videoTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Dead protesters, a "failed state" and accusations of high-level drug trafficking. While many Hondurans continue to leave the country in search of a new life, members of a variety of groups from across society are making their feelings known in the streets. His brother Antonio was arrested by US investigators on drug trafficking charges in November 2018, but he has denied the charges. Violence has flared during the recent protests after Hernandez put soldiers on the streets, leading to widespread condemnation. Honduras saw homicide rates more than double between 2005 and 2010, and became the world's most murderous country in 2012.