Central America
Former president of Honduras found guilty of drug trafficking by U.S. justice
The prosecution, alleging that the former president created a narco-state during his presidency (2014-2022), accused him of conspiring to traffic drugs to the United States, as well as conspiring to traffic arms, offenses that carry potential life sentences.
Former President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, was declared guilty of drug trafficking and arms trafficking by a federal jury in New York on Friday, concluding a landmark trial that could see him spend the rest of his life in prison.
On its second day of deliberations, the 12-member jury announced its unanimous verdict shortly before 13:30 local time, finding Hernández guilty on all three charges brought by the prosecution.
“I am innocent, tell the world, I love you,” Hernández said as he left the court, addressing his family, including two sisters-in-law, and the three generals who came to testify on his behalf in this trial.
Flanked by his lawyers, moments before Judge Kevin Castel called the parties to hear the verdict, 55-year-old Hernández appeared to be praying.
Afterwards, he reacted to the verdict by shaking his head in disbelief as the jury spokesperson responded to each of the judge’s questions to establish his guilt.
The prosecution, asserting that the former president created a narco-state during his presidency (2014-2022), accused him of conspiring to traffic drugs to the United States, as well as conspiring to traffic arms, offenses that carry potential life sentences.
The judge is yet to announce the former president’s sentence in the coming weeks or months.
According to the U.S. prosecution, Hernández participated in and protected a network that sent over 500 tons of cocaine to the United States between 2004 and 2022, while he was a congressman, president of the Congress, and later president of the Republic. In exchange, he allegedly received millions of dollars from cartels, including Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who was sentenced to life in prison in the United States.
Extradited in April 2022 to the United States, three months after handing over the presidency to leftist successor Xiomara Castro, the convicted individual is known for the infamous phrase “We are going to put the drugs in their noses (to the Americans) and they won’t even notice,” according to a witness.
Asked by AFP, defense attorney Renato Stabile, with tears in his eyes, said that “obviously the verdict is harsh, but mentally, he is very strong.”
This staunch ally of Republican President Donald Trump (2017-2021) once boasted about Washington’s praise for his government’s efforts in the fight against drug trafficking.
Prosecutor Jacob H. Gutwillig reminded the jury that while the accused publicly promoted laws against drug trafficking and the extradition of drug lords to the United States, he also met with U.S. officials behind closed doors. However, “none of this undoes what the accused did behind closed doors.”
“He is a drug trafficker,” Gutwillig concluded.
Since 2014, Honduras has extradited 38 people accused of drug trafficking to the United States. Others surrendered to U.S. authorities or were arrested outside the country.
Former police chief Juan Carlos “Tigre” Bonilla and former police officer Mauricio Hernández, who were to be tried with the former president, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking a few days before the trial began. Their sentences will be announced in the coming months.
Many of the dozen witnesses presented by the prosecution highlighted the corruption and close ties between politics and drug trafficking.
“The political elite, which is also the economic elite, has operated in complete impunity” over the past 15 years, since the 2009 coup, emboldened by “the support it received from foreign governments despite knowing that it was heavily involved in drug trafficking,” says American activist Karen Spring of the Honduras Solidarity Network to AFP.
“All state institutions are heavily penetrated by drug trafficking, particularly the police and the military,” she asserts.
Extradited in April 2022, three months after leaving office, the former president will follow in the footsteps of his brother Tony Hernández and Geovanny Fuentes, a close associate of his brother, who are serving life sentences in the United States, as well as Fabio Lobo, son of former President Porfirio Lobo (2010-2014), and lawmaker Fredy Renán Nájera, all convicted of drug trafficking.
Central America
Arévalo warns of ‘Dark Interests’ targeting human rights defenders in Guatemala
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo de León warned on Thursday that human rights defenders are facing serious threats, aggression, and criminalization by “dark interests” embedded within the structures of the State.
“Today we are facing serious levels of threats, aggression, and criminalization against people who promote respect for human rights, coming from actors and criminal networks—sometimes embedded in State institutions—that refuse to accept that Guatemala is changing,” Arévalo said during a public event held at the former Government Palace.
During the event, authorities presented the Public Policy for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders 2025–2035, an initiative developed in compliance with a 2014 resolution from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), issued in response to the killing of activist Florentín Gudiel Ramos in 2004.
Central America
Newborn found in Costa Rican dump survives two days in unsanitary conditions
Costa Rican media outlets report that a newborn baby was found in a garbage dump, where he had reportedly spent two days in unsanitary conditions.
Police located the infant after a resident alerted authorities upon hearing crying coming from a clandestine dumping site in the Rancho Guanacaste area. The newborn was discovered alive inside a drainage channel, covered in waste. He was immediately taken to the National Children’s Hospital, where he received medical care and is now in stable condition.
“The National Children’s Hospital confirms that we indeed received a newborn approximately four or five days old who was found in a wooded area near the Alajuelita roundabout. He was first taken to the Solón Núñez Clinic and then transferred to this hospital. As of now, the baby is in the emergency department in good condition. He arrived a bit cold, but he has been warmed, fed, and his initial physical exam is completely normal,” explained hospital director Carlos Jiménez Herrera, according to CR Hoy.
Central America
Arévalo accuses Porras and judge of undermining democracy in Guatemala
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo denounced a new attempt at a “coup” orchestrated by the Attorney General’s Office. He also requested an extraordinary session at the Organization of American States (OAS) to address the country’s ongoing political crisis.
The president has been at odds with Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union for being “corrupt” and “anti-democratic.” Since 2023, Arévalo has accused Porras of launching investigations against his party, Semilla, and the 2023 elections as part of a scheme to prevent his inauguration in January 2024.
From the presidential office, Arévalo has said he continues to “resist” the “coup plotters,” but tensions escalated last Friday when Judge Fredy Orellana, at the request of the Attorney General’s Office, ordered the electoral court to annul the Semilla party’s promoter group. Arévalo interpreted this as an attempt to revoke the positions won by the party.
“Orellana, a hitman who distorts the law in service of Consuelo Porras, is attempting to force […] the unconstitutional removal of a mayor, 23 elected deputies […], the vice president, and the president of the country,” Arévalo said in a televised address on Sunday.
“We call on the international community not to turn a blind eye to the coup being attempted in Guatemala,” he added, speaking alongside his cabinet and congressional members at the National Palace in Guatemala City.
Arévalo requested that the Organization of American States hold an extraordinary session to present “the serious threats” to the Guatemalan Constitution and democracy perpetrated by Porras and Orellana.
Yesterday, Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martínez reaffirmed the president’s statements, emphasizing the need “to go and expose the situation” Guatemala has been facing since last week due to the actions of the Attorney General’s Office.
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