Ex-Honduras president Hernández thanks Trump in first message since release

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Honduras’ former President Juan Orlando Hernández thanked U.S. President Donald Trump Wednesday for pardoning him in his first communication since being released from a U.S. prison.

Hernández was one year into a 45-year prison sentence for helping drug traffickers move hundreds of tons of cocaine to the U.S. in exchange for bribes that fueled his political rise.

Trump shocked Hondurans last Friday by announcing his intention to pardon Hernández two days before the country’s national elections, arguing that that the former leader had been the victim of an unjust and politically-motivated prosecution.

“I said it as I left my home, I said it as I was wrongfully convicted, and I will say it again now that I have my liberty. I am innocent,” Hernández posted to X Wednesday.

“You changed my life, sir, and I will never forget it.”

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday that Hondurans had asked him to pardon Hernández.

“They (U.S. prosecutors) basically said he was a drug dealer because he was the president of the country. And they said it was a Biden administration set-up,” Trump said. “And I looked at the facts and I agreed with them.”

Hernández was released Monday from U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton in West Virginia. His wife, Ana García, confirmed his release early Tuesday.

García said Hernández was in an undisclosed location for his safety.

García said Hernández began seeking a pardon began several months ago with a petition to the office of pardons. Then on Oct. 28 — his birthday — he wrote a letter to Trump.

In the days before Honduras held an election, Trump also endorsed a presidential candidate from Hernández’s conservative National Party.

As the vote count advanced Wednesday, National Party candidate Nasry Asfura trailed Salvador Nasralla of the conservative Liberal Party by less than 1% of the votes counted.

Hernández has portrayed himself as a hero of the anti-drug trafficking movement who teamed up with American authorities under three U.S. presidential administrations to reduce drug imports.

Hernández was arrested at the request of the United States in February 2022, weeks after current President Xiomara Castro took office.

Two years later, Hernández was sentenced to 45 years in prison in a New York federal courtroom for taking bribes from drug traffickers so they could move some 400 tons (360 metric tons) of cocaine north through Honduras to the United States.