For eight long years, Honduras was under the complete and total control of their former president Juan Orlando Hernadez. He made all of the executive decisions for his declining country from January 2014 to January 2022, before inevitably being replaced by Honduras’ current leader, Xiomara Castro. Castro is currently married to Manuel Zelaya, Honduras’ previous president of three years; he ended his reign back in January of 2009.
However, the United States recently made the public announcement that they are presently planning a blueprint to extradite the 53-year-old man for previous criminal activity that he was never caught for. The U.S. reported that the current president is being accused of taking part in a drug scheme that involved trafficking cocaine from Venezuela, Colombia, and then imported into America. This past Monday, U.S. officials requested the “formal provisional arrest of a Honduran politician,” over a caption that respected representatives uploaded to their Twitter accounts.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated, “The United States is advancing transparency and accountability in Central America by making public visa restrictions against Honduras’ former president, Juan Orlando Hernandez, on account of corrupt actions… No one is above the law.” The U.S. State Department also took the time to give a more detailed explanation on their reasoning for targeting Honduras’s leader: “Hernandez has engaged in significant corruption by committing or facilitating acts of corruption and narco-trafficking, and using the proceeds to illicit activity to facilitate political campaigns.” President Juan Orlando Hernandez is currently being detained until the investigation furthers.