After a day of almost twelve hours in which a judge in Honduras discovered all the evidence against former President Juan Orlando Hernández, the Honduran justice gave free rein to the extradition request made by the United States. In Hernández, he was accused of three crimes for drug trafficking on US soil.
The resolution was disclosed at around nine o'clock at night – Tegucigalpa time – this Wednesday. Judge Edwin Ortez is pronounced in favor of the request. Hernandez's defense is expected to request the request within a maximum period of three days. The defenders' strategy has been to ensure that the evidence presented by the United States is not necessary to prove its involvement in drug activities.
"The US Attorney's Office did not send any supporting documentation, photos, audios, videos, transactions or any other evidence to support its accusation," said the defense before the end of the trial.
Hernández left office at the end of January, after being defeated by Xiomara Castro, the leftist candidate who promised to fight corruption. The former president's management is one of the most controversial and critical in the recent history of Honduras, a country that is suffering from the sociopolitical crisis inherited from the 2014 coup against President Manuel Zaleya, Castro's husband. Under his management, the country was plunged into poverty, becoming the poorest in the region along with Nicaragua. According to data from the World Bank, more than 71% of the population remains below the welfare threshold.
Honduras is also one of the most violent countries in the region with a homicide rate of 38 per hundred thousand inhabitants in 2018. The levels of violence also disappeared under the Hernández administration.
The former president was arrested on February 15 at his home after a request made by the United States. The request, issued by the Court of the Southern District of New York, found that between 2004 and 2022 the former president had participated in the transport of 500 thousand kilograms of cocaine. The focus on the president became more relevant after a trial against his brother, Tony Hernández, also tried in New York for drug trafficking.
