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Trump Meddles in Honduran Election & Vows to Pardon Ex-President Jailed in U.S. for Drug Trafficking

2025-12-01 News & Politics
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Democracy Now!
Democracy Now!
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Trump’s Threat to Pardon Drug Trafficker JOH Amid Honduran Election Interference

Uncover how Donald Trump weaponized a potential presidential pardon to influence Honduran elections and undermined the US justice system's drug trafficking convictions.

Short Summary

  • [00:00:08] Trump announced plans to pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH), convicted of trafficking tons of cocaine.
  • [00:00:56] Rodolfo Pastor details how Trump threatened Honduras with "vengeance" if they rejected his preferred conservative candidate.
  • [00:14:09] Dana Frank argues this action constitutes an outrageous subversion of the rule of law within the United States itself.
  • [00:09:28] US intervention in Honduran politics, dating back to the 2009 coup, remains a consistent factor shaping the nation's governance.

This discussion analyzes the implications of Donald Trump’s explicit intervention in the Honduran presidential election, focusing on his threat to pardon convicted narco-president Juan Orlando Hernández. Guests critique this move as a deliberate act of blackmail, revealing profound contradictions in US drug war rhetoric and exposing deep-seated US involvement in Honduran political instability.

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Description

Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt President Trump has announced plans to pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who is serving a 45-year sentence for trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine into the United States. In 2024, Hernández was convicted in New York of drug trafficking and weapons charges. "The evidence from the Southern District of New York was overwhelming," says Dana Frank, professor of history emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a longtime observer of Honduran politics. Trump's announcement came on Friday, and he also threatened to cut off funding if Hondurans did not elect his chosen conservative candidate as they went to the polls Sunday to pick a new president. "He's almost threatening Honduras that if we don't do what he is demanding … he will wreak vengeance against Honduras," says Rodolfo Pastor, former secretary of the presidency under Xiomara Castro in Honduras. Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET. Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe

Top Comments (10)

@SamSwarthout-u6n 2025-12-01

This is what a government run by corporate criminals looks like!

84 3 replies
@dsiepiela6449 2025-12-01

The day trump goes to prison will be an international holiday.

76 8 replies
@eileentsiapanos5430 2025-12-01

So much for ridding the US of illegal drugs, huh?!

72 4 replies
@MargaretR.J 2025-12-01

Let’s see if I understand what’s going on, DJT is currently killing Venezuelan “narco terrorists” in international waters, while simultaneously pardoning one of the biggest narco dealers in recent history. Make this make sense!

54 16 replies
@carmensullinales4831 2025-12-01

We hondurans feel insulted and humiliated by Trump' threats to pardon Juan Orlando. If he wants to combat drugs, he needs to start by dismantling the drug dealers and drug cartels in the US. Trump is only contributing in deepening divisions in our population, in our organizations and even in our families.

52 9 replies
@jeanlewis1403 2025-12-01

I guess the drug traffickers had more money than the oil men in Venezuela to pay the bribes.

31 1 replies
@kevinwilliams1768 2025-12-01

excellent & insightful interview. Goes to show what is happening in Venezuela has nothing to do with drugs or else the former Honduran President wouldn't be pardon for the same thing.

22 2 replies
@PeggyHartman-e2q 2025-12-01

Why should he be pardon? All those drugs and he wants to pardon him. What is going on here?

8 2 replies
@dustnroadgrime 2025-12-08

One load can kill a million and kills a few thousands.

1
@AbrahameduardoRomero 2025-12-03

Un añde las consejeras cossete Lopez que maneja el conteo del voto del consejo ncional electoral, tuvo una relacion amorosa con juan Orlando hernandez de esa relcion tuvieron una hija,y ella contrato la empresa que lleva el conteo de los votos,solo hay que sacar conclusiones

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