Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez accused in major drug conspiracy of using US$1.5 million in money to secure position
- US prosecutors accused Honduran president of having used US$1.5 million in drug trafficking proceeds to secure the presidency in 2013
- President’s office releases statement denying the ‘the false and perverse accusations’
US federal prosecutors have accused the Honduran government of essentially functioning as a narcostate, with the current and former presidents having received campaign contributions from cocaine traffickers in exchange for protection.
A 49-page document filed in New York’s southern district refers to Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez as a co-conspirator who worked with his brother, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernandez, and former president Porfirio Lobo “to use drug trafficking to help assert power and control in Honduras”.
It says that the president and his predecessor “relied on drug proceeds” to fund political campaigns and cites “evidence of high-level political corruption”.
The filing comes just months after other US federal court documents showed the current president and some of his closest advisers were among the targets of a Drug Enforcement Administration investigation, casting further doubt on the United States’ assertion that Honduras has helped stopped the flow of drugs.
The US government has been a staunch supporter of Hernandez’s government, pouring millions of dollars into security cooperation to stop cocaine headed to the US from South America.
