‘You Changed My Life’: Ex-Honduras President Thanks Trump In 1st Message Since Release
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Former President of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernández thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for pardoning him on Wednesday. is being released from a US prison.
Hernández has been a year 45 years imprisonment For helping drug traffickers move hundreds of tons of cocaine into the United States in exchange for bribes that fueled his political rise.
Trump shocked Hondurans by announcing his intentions last Friday. Forgive Hernández Two days before the country’s national elections, he claimed that the former leader was the victim of an unfair and politically motivated investigation.
“I said this when I left my home, I said it because I was unjustly convicted, and I will say it again now that I am free. I am innocent,” Hernández wrote to
“You changed my life sir and I will never forget it.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday that Hondurans have asked him to pardon Hernández.
“They (US prosecutors) said he was a drug dealer because he was the president of the country. And they said it was a trap for the Biden administration,” Trump said. “So I looked at the facts and agreed with them.”
Hernández was released from U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton in West Virginia on Monday. His wife, Ana García, confirmed his release early Tuesday.
García said Hernández was at an undisclosed location for his safety.
García said Hernández began his quest for clemency by submitting a petition to the pardon office several months ago. He later wrote a letter to Trump on his birthday, October 28.
In the days before Honduras held elections, Trump also endorsed a presidential candidate from Hernández’s conservative National Party.
As vote counting progressed Wednesday, National Party candidate Nasry Asfura trailed Salvador Nasralla of the conservative Liberal Party by less than 1%.
Hernández has described himself as a hero of the anti-drug trafficking movement, having cooperated with American officials 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 accepting bribes from drug traffickers so they could move nearly 400 tons (360 metric tons) of cocaine north to the United States through Honduras.
