President Donald Trump announced Friday on Truth Social that he plans to issue a full pardon to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who is serving a 45 year sentence in U.S. federal prison on drug trafficking and weapons charges. Hernández was arrested in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in February 2022 and extradited to the United States two months later to face federal charges in New York.
Prosecutors said Hernández ran Honduras as a “narco-state,” using his office to help traffickers move more than 400 tons of cocaine toward the United States. They said he was paid millions in bribes from major drug figures, including Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
A federal jury convicted Hernández in March 2024 on drug trafficking and firearms conspiracy charges. He was sentenced on June 26, 2024, to 45 years in federal prison, five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay an eight million dollar fine.
“I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly,” Trump said. “This cannot be allowed to happen, especially now, after Tito Asfura wins the Election, when Honduras will be on its way to Great Political and Financial Success.”
It was the second time this week Trump expressed support for Nasry “Tito” Asfura, the conservative National Party candidate in Honduras.
A Wednesday Truth Social post said the two “can work together to fight the Narcocommunists, and bring needed aid to the people of Honduras.”
Trump’s Friday message ended with, “VOTE FOR TITO ASFURA FOR PRESIDENT, AND CONGRATULATIONS TO JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZ ON YOUR UPCOMING PARDON. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE HONDURAS GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump also warned that if Asfura loses this weekend’s election, the United States “will not be throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader can only bring catastrophic results to a country, no matter which country it is.”
Trump on Saturday announced that all airspace above and around Venezuela will be completely closed after months of targeting drug-carrying boats in the waters off the South American nation’s coastline. Trump, in a Truth Social post, said: “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”
Last week, the U.S. aviation regulator warned major airlines of a “potentially hazardous situation” when flying over Venezuela, citing a “worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around” the country.
In response, Venezuela revoked operating rights for six major international airlines that had suspended service following the Federal Aviation Administration’s advisory, CBNC reported.
The Trump administration has accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of involvement in drug trafficking, an allegation he has denied. Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, maintains that Trump is attempting to remove him from office and has said that Venezuelan citizens and the military would oppose any such effort.
U.S. forces in the region have largely focused on counter-narcotics operations, though their presence exceeds what is typically required for those missions. Since September, they have conducted at least 21 strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, resulting in at least 83 deaths.
Trump said earlier this month that he has “sort of made up” his mind on how to proceed with the United States’ policy toward Venezuela after holding a series of meetings this week with senior military officials to discuss potential options against Caracas.
“I sort of made up my mind,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One when asked about the situation, The Hill reported. “I can’t tell you what it is, but we made a lot of progress with Venezuela in terms of stopping drugs from pouring in.”
