A former president of Honduras has been convicted in New York: he is accused of creating a “narco-state” and could spend the rest of his life behind bars

Juan Orlando Hernandezpresident of Honduras from 2014 to 2022, was found guilty three drug and weapons trafficking charges this Friday. The former president of Honduras, who is now awaiting the sentence of New York judge Kevin Castel, risks a sentence that it could lead to you spending the rest of your life in prison.

Hernández will thus become the Top-ranking Latin American leader convicted of drug trafficking after the case of Panamanian Manuel Antonio Noriega, sentenced in 1992 by a Florida court to 40 years in prison for his links with the Colombian Medellín cartel.

The prosecution, which claims that the former president created a narco-state during his presidencycharged him with conspiracy to traffic drugs into the United States, as well as conspiracy to traffic weapons and possession, punishable by life in prison.

In this sense, prosecutor Jacob H. Gutwillig reminded the jury that Hernández, 55, maintained a double discourse: in public he promoted laws against drug trafficking and extraditions of drug traffickers to the United States and met with officials and US authorities, but ““None of this undoes what the defendant did behind closed doors.”.

“He is a drug trafficker,” the prosecutor underlined.

The former president, however, upon leaving the chamber declared: “I’m innocent, tell the world, I love you”. Two sisters-in-law were there to accompany him, because neither his wife nor his children received visas to go to New York. There were also the three generals who testified in his favor at the trial.

Historic condemnation of a former president: Chapo Guzmán’s millions and the phrase that made him famous in the United States.

After hearing from Judge Kevin Castel that the jury had reached a verdict, Hernández appeared to be praying. He watched the verdict, shaking his head in disbelief as the jury foreman answered each of the questions the judge asked to determine his guilt.

Fifty Hondurans who were outside the court immediately began celebrating. the sentence, which could cost Hernández several life sentences. “Today justice has been done,” elated human rights activist Lida Perdomo said outside the court.

According to the US prosecutor’s office, Hernández participated and protected between 2004 and 2022 – when he was a congressman, president of Congress and then president of the Republic – a network that sent more than 500 tons of cocaine to the United States. In exchange he would have received millions of dollars from the cartels, including from the Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín “Chapo” Guzmán – sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States -.

The accusation of”conspiracy to import cocaine” carries a sentence of up to 10 years and perpetuity; that of “using and carrying machine guns and other destructive devices” to introduce drugs punishable between 30 years and life in prison; and “conspiracy to use and carry machine guns” to import drugs also carries a maximum sentence of life.

The judge confirmed the three charges brought against him by the Public Prosecutor’s Office on behalf of the US government, which has repeatedly stated that Hernández “participated in a corrupt and violent drug trafficking conspiracy for the purpose of facilitate the importation of hundreds of thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States“.

Although no conclusive evidence emerged during the trial – in the form of video, audio or intercepted communications – incriminating Hernández, the jury He was convinced by the testimonies of known drug traffickers who testified against him. after pleading guilty in American justice, presumably seeking prison benefits.

Extradited in April 2022 to the United States, three months after handing over the presidency to his successor, the left-wing militant Xiomara Castro, the convict is the author of the famous phrase “We will put the drugs under their (Americans) noses and they won’t even notice.“according to a witness.

“Let’s hope they convict him.” at least three life sentences and this would not be enough for me to pay for all the damage he has done to my country,” activist Perdomo told AFP. The judge will still have to announce the former president’s sentence in the coming weeks or months.

The long history of Honduran politics and drug trafficking

This was announced by defense lawyer Raymond Colon his client will appeal the sentence. “He claims to be innocent,” she said. Another lawyer, Renato Stabile, told AFP through misty eyes that “obviously the sentence is harsh, but (the former president) is mentally very strong.”

The former president He will thus follow in the footsteps of his brother Tony Hernández and Geovanny Fuentes, his close associate, who are serving life sentences in the United States. Others convicted for the same crime are Fabio Lobo, son of former president Porfirio Lobo (2010-2014), and deputy Fredy Renán Nájera.

Since 2014, Honduras has extradited 38 people accused of drug trafficking to the United States.

Former national police chief Juan Carlos “Tigre” Bonilla and former police officer Mauricio Hernández, who were to be tried alongside the former president, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking just days before the trial began. Their sentences will be known in the coming months.

Many of the dozens of witnesses presented by the prosecution revealed corruption and close links between politics and drug trafficking.

“The political elite, which is also the economic elite, has operated with total impunity” in the last 15 yearsafter the 2009 coup, encouraged by “the support she received from foreign governments even though they knew she was heavily involved in drug trafficking”, American activist Karen Spring of the Honduras Solidarity Network organization told AFP.