Central America
Honduran ex-president brought before judge as US seeks extradition
AFP
Honduran ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez, detained pending a decision on his extradition to the United States on drug trafficking charges, will appear Wednesday before a judge in Tegucigalpa assigned to determine his fate.
Hernandez surrendered to police Tuesday, hours after the judge — whose name authorities are withholding for his own protection — issued a warrant for his arrest.
The former president is wanted in the United States over claims that he facilitated the trafficking of 500 tons of cocaine.
In power for eight years until three weeks ago, when leftist Xiomara Castro was sworn in as Honduras’s first woman president, Hernandez spent Tuesday night in the custody of the police special forces.
The 53-year-old rightwing politician, who served two successive terms clouded by corruption claims, was arrested hours earlier at his house in the capital Tegucigalpa by Honduran police in coordination with American agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration.
He offered no resistance, and allowed officers to cuff his hands and feet and fit him out in a bullet-proof vest.
Dozens of people with banners celebrated outside Hernandez’s home, while in other cities, people took to the streets with loudspeakers singing “Juancho goes to New York,” using his nickname.
The US embassy in Tegucigalpa said in a statement Hernandez is accused of trafficking some 500 tons of cocaine through Honduras, knowing it would end up in the United States.
– ‘Defend myself’ –
The ex-president faces three charges: conspiracy to import a controlled substance into the United States, using or carrying firearms including machine guns, and conspiracy to use or carry firearms in support of the conspiracy to traffic narcotics.
Hernandez is accused of having conspired with his brother, former Honduran congressman Tony Hernandez, who was in March 2021 given life in prison in the United States for drug trafficking.
Spokesman Melvin Duarte said Hernandez’s appearance Tuesday was to start the process for the judge to weigh information received from the United States.
Previous extradition requests had taken no more than four months to adjudicate, he added.
Hernandez vowed Tuesday to cooperate with domestic authorities, saying in an audio message on Twitter he was ready to appear in court and “defend myself.”
Though Hernandez had portrayed himself as an ally of the US war on drugs during his tenure, traffickers caught in the United States claimed to have paid bribes to the president’s inner circle.
Alleged associate Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez was sentenced in the United States last week to life in prison and a fine of $151.7 million for smuggling tons of cocaine into the country — with Hernandez’s aid, according to prosecutors.
In that trial, a prosecutor said the then-president had received millions of dollars from drug traffickers for protection — including from Mexican narco kingpin Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman.
Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “according to multiple, credible media reports,” Hernandez “has engaged in significant corruption by committing or facilitating acts of corruption and narco-trafficking and using the proceeds of illicit activity to facilitate political campaigns.”
Hernandez denies the claims, which he said were part of a revenge plot by traffickers that his government had captured or extradited to the United States.
– ‘Bankrupt’ state –
His lawyer, Hermes Ramirez insisted Monday that his client enjoyed immunity from prosecution as a member of the Guatemala-based Central American Parliament, Parlacen.
Hernandez joined Parlacen hours after leaving office on January 27.
But some analysts told AFP the Parlacen charter gives members, in their country of origin, the same immunity they would have enjoyed as members of their own parliament, which in Honduras, does not exist.
They also said that any immunity conferred by Parlacen membership could be waived at the request of a national government.
During his term, Hernandez was accused of unjustly expanding presidential powers, including over the justice system and the country’s election tribunal.
His re-election in 2017 was met with widespread protests against an alleged fraudulent campaign in the poverty- and violence-ridden country.
Central America
Nicaragua’s Ortega and Murillo Mourn Pope Francis, Acknowledge ‘Difficult’ Relationship
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo, who also serve as co-leaders of the country, expressed their condolences on Monday following the death of Pope Francis, acknowledging that their relationship with the late pontiff had been “difficult” and “troubled.” Nicaragua officially suspended diplomatic ties with the Vatican during his papacy.
“Our relationship, as Nicaraguans who are believers, devoted and faithful to the doctrine of Christ Jesus, was difficult and troubled—unfortunately shaped by adverse and painful circumstances that were not always understood,” Ortega and Murillo wrote in a message of condolence.
“Despite the complexity and hardships, despite the manipulation we all know occurred, despite everything, we kept our hope alive through Christian faith,” they continued. “We understood the distance, and above all, the complicated and strained communication that prevented better relations. We also recognized the confusion caused by strident voices that disrupted any attempt at genuine interaction.”
Pope Francis had previously compared the Ortega regime to communist dictatorships and even to Hitler, a remark that further strained relations between Managua and the Holy See.
Central America
Cardinal Rodríguez to Attend Funeral of Pope Francis: “He Was Very Dear to Me”
Honduran Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez announced on Monday that he will attend the funeral services of Pope Francis, who passed away at the age of 88 at his residence in Casa Santa Marta due to a stroke.
“We will be there throughout the novena and then, God willing, at the burial,” Rodríguez said in a phone interview with HRN Radio in Tegucigalpa, apparently calling from Spain.
He added that the last time he saw Pope Francis was in October 2024, during and at the end of that year’s synod, and that they remained in contact through email. “Sometimes, the Pope would even call me,” said Rodríguez, who was born on December 29, 1942, and was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II on February 21, 2001.
Rodríguez expressed deep sorrow over the passing of Pope Francis, saying: “He was a very dear person to me.”
However, he also shared a message of hope, pointing out that the Holy Father passed away during Easter: “This is a sign. He gave his life completely like the Lord Jesus, and though he died, we believe in faith that he has risen, now with Christ in eternal life.”
Rodríguez, who for ten years coordinated the Vatican’s Council of Cardinals, was one of the eight cardinals selected by Pope Francis to help govern the Catholic Church and reform the Roman Curia.
In January 2023, upon turning 80, Rodríguez stepped down as Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, and Pope Francis appointed Spanish priest José Vicente Nácher Tatay as his successor.
Central America
Senator Van Hollen Meets with Deported MS-13 Member in El Salvador; Trump and Bukele React
U.S. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, representing the state of Maryland, held a meeting in El Salvador with deported MS-13 gang member Kilmar Ábrego García, a member of the criminal group classified by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization.
“Kilmar Ábrego García, miraculously resurrected from the ‘extermination camps’ and ‘torture chambers,’ now sipping margaritas with Senator Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!” wrote President Nayib Bukeleon X (formerly Twitter), sharing photos of Van Hollen, Ábrego García, and a lawyer sitting together at a Salvadoran hotel.
The deported gang member is seen wearing a plaid shirt and a flat-brimmed cap, seated at a table with glasses and coffee cups. The senator also shared images of the meeting on his own social media accounts.
Bukele reaffirmed that Ábrego will remain in El Salvador and will not be returned to the United States.
“Now that his health has been confirmed, he has earned the honor of remaining under the custody of El Salvador,” Bukele added.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the senator’s meeting with Ábrego on Truth Social, calling Van Hollen “a fool” for advocating for Ábrego’s return to the U.S.
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