Adam Gray/Getty Images
Adam Gray/Getty Images
Former president of Honduras (2014-2022) and longtime United States ally Juan Orlando Hernández was found guilty by the federal court of the Southern District of New York on three counts of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and related firearms offenses. Hernández was arrested in February 2022, less than a month after the end of his second presidential term, and extradited to the U.S. in April that year. The case showed how Hernández turned Honduras into a narco-state as well as the ways in which corruption reached the highest echelons of power. It also shined a spotlight on the U.S. for supporting the Honduran leader throughout his eight-year presidency, despite several allegations of human rights violations and accusations of corruption and electoral fraud.
The conviction of former President Juan Orlando Hernández closed a chapter in Honduras’ political history. But for the country to move forward, it is critical to evaluate what we can learn from the trial and what needs to be reformed.
The trial exposed how, from 2004 to 2022, drug trafficking networks worked with the political class to co-opt democratic institutions with the aim of guaranteeing government contracts linked to personal interests, ensuring impunity, and ultimately deepening the drug trade and maintaining power. According to an attorney for the Southern District of New York, Hernández positioned himself and Honduras “At the center of one of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking conspiracies in the world” through the following ways:
The former president protected and enriched drug traffickers in his inner circle and Mexican drug lords such as Joaquín Guzmán, commonly known as El Chapo, in exchange for “cocaine-fueled” bribes, which he then used to finance both of his political campaigns and to remain in power. U.S prosecutors allege that Hernández took approximately $1 million in bribes and used the money to ensure his rise in Honduran politics including his election as president in 2013 and 2017.
A witness in the trial, Amilcar Alexander Ardón, a former mayor of Copán and convicted drug-trafficking conspirator, pointed out that possible acts of electoral fraud had been committed in several elections to benefit candidates of the National Party. Unusually high political participation was registered, and according to Ardón’s testimony, Hernández “bought” votes as well as polling stations administrators to favor the National Party.
2. Complicit political elite
Hernández created a network of political allies to keep hold of power through a series of bribes and favors. His network included high-ranking officials, such as the former chief of Honduras’ National Police, influential businessmen, local municipal mayors, and multiple military officials.
The trial also revealed how deeply drug money has infiltrated Honduras’ political elite at the local and national level, with several sitting politicians, including former presidents, mayors, and other political figures, accused of allegedly accepting drug bribes from traffickers while in office.
3. State-sponsored drug networks
Along with the political elite, Honduran institutions were used as extensions of the drug trade. According to U.S. prosecutors, the Honduran National Police and Armed Forces became the drug traffickers’ personal security force. Police and army personnel, equipment, and money were used to protect cocaine shipments in transit through Honduras. They also protected allied traffickers and assisted in operations.
Another branch of Hernández’s drug operations was the Attorney General’s Office, which he allegedly used to target competing drug cartels and protect his allies. The former attorney general, Oscar Chinchilla (2013-2023), was twice elected by the National Congress in processes riddled with irregularities. According to an investigative report, Chinchilla and the head of the Anti-Drug Trafficking Subdivision refused to open an investigation into Congressman Tony Hernández, Juan Orlando Hernández’s brother, and his ties to drug trafficking. Instead, the office focused on prosecuting the Valle Valle Cartel and the Cachiros, who later became an obstacle for Hernandez’s drug-trafficking allies.
Overall, the Hernández case revealed how, during his tenure, Honduras crumbled at the hands of drug traffickers and corrupt politicians, many of whom are still present in the country’s political scene.
a. Strengthen the independence of the criminal justice system and prosecutors’ capacities: It is important to address the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime comprehensively by dismantling illicit networks, not only prosecuting kingpins. Since criminal organizations such as drug-trafficking networks ultimately readjust their structures to continue operating, there is a crucial need for an independent criminal justice system and for the public prosecutor’s office to strengthen its capacity to investigate, prosecute, and eradicate them.
b. Introduce anti-corruption measures: Good governance is equally important; the president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, should promote greater transparency, an open government, and anti-corruption efforts such as better procurement processes. Criminal behavior and drug trafficking go beyond drug traffickers. The military and other security forces should also be purged.
c. Ensure electoral integrity for the 2025 elections: Honduras will hold general elections in 2025, and there is a great need to introduce legal and institutional reforms to strengthen oversight mechanisms for campaign financing to promote electoral integrity. Authorities should ensure judicial guarantees, greater voting transparency, an independent electoral administration, and secured and public monitoring of the vote count.
d. Approve legal reforms by the National Congress: Honduras faces a series of legal obstacles that obstruct the fight against impunity and corruption. Congress should repeal provisions in Decree 130-2017 of the Criminal Code, which substantially reduces penalties for corruption and organized crime, and Decree 117-2019, which incorporates parliamentary immunity, preventing deputies involved in corruption cases from being held accountable. In addition, the following reforms should be implemented:
e. Accelerate the establishment of a UN-backed anti-corruption mechanism: Xiomara Castro invited the United Nations to begin the process to install an international anti-corruption commission in Honduras (CICIH, by its Spanish acronym), which civil society organizations believe could make a difference given the country’s lack of judicial independence and institutional capacity to address structural impunity. Castro’s government should create the conditions required by the UN which include legal reforms and accelerating the process.
This article was produced with the collaboration of Jorge Paz Reyes
