Honduras seeks arrest of ex-President Hernández after Trump pardon

Honduran Attorney General Johel Zelaya announced Monday that he had directed local authorities and asked Interpol to execute an arrest warrant issued in 2023 for former President Juan Orlando Hernández. The warrant stems from allegations of fraud and money laundering.

Hernández was released from federal prison in the United States last week after receiving a pardon from former U.S. President Donald Trump. He had been sentenced by a U.S. federal court to 45 years in prison for his role in helping move tons of cocaine into the country.

The former president's fall from grace was swift and dramatic, going from a supposed ally in the war on drugs to the subject of a U.S. extradition request shortly after leaving office in 2022. He was detained and extradited to the United States by current President Xiomara Castro of the social democrat Libre party.

Zelaya included a photo of the two-year-old arrest warrant signed by a Supreme Court magistrate as evidence of the ongoing legal proceedings against Hernández. The situation unfolds amid uncertainty over who will be Honduras's next president, with the election results still pending.

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