US federal prosecutors have accused the Honduran government of essentially functioning as a narco-state, 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 on Friday refers to Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez as a co-conspirator who worked with his brother, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernandez, and former Honduran president Porfirio Lobo “to use drug trafficking to help assert power and control in Honduras.”
It says that Hernandez and his predecessor “relied on drug proceeds” to fund political campaigns and cites “evidence of high-level political corruption.”
The filing came months after other US federal court documents showed that Hernandez and some of his closest advisers were among the targets of a US Drug Enforcement Administration investigation, casting further doubt on the US’ assertion that Honduras has helped stop the flow of drugs.
The US government has been a staunch supporter of Hernandez’s government, pouring millions of US dollars into security cooperation to stop cocaine headed to the US from South America.
The office of the Honduran president said on Twitter on Saturday that Hernandez “categorically denies the false and perverse accusations.”
It later issued a separate, lengthier statement suggesting that the allegations were put forward by drug dealers seeking retaliation against Hernandez, who was head of the Honduran Congress in 2012, when the legislature authorized extradition of Honduran nationals to face drug-trafficking charges in the US.
Since then, more than 40 Hondurans have been extradited and others have negotiated plea deals with US officials in exchange for information, the office said.
“President Hernandez has been relentless in the fight against drug traffickers despite predictable reprisals, to the point that one of his 17 siblings, a younger brother, is now being tried in New York,” the office said.
Specifically, New York prosecutors allege that Hernandez used US$1.5 million in drug trafficking proceeds to help secure power in 2013.
That campaign support came via cash bribes to Honduran officials as well as gifts and favors to local politicians, they said.
Hernandez won re-election in 2017, despite term limits in Honduras and widespread allegations of election fraud.
The filing also alludes to multiple payments of US$1 million or more from drug dealers to Lobo.
Lobo’s wife was last year arrested by Honduran officials on charges of diverting US$700,000 in public funds. His son, Fabio, was in 2017 sentenced in the US to 24 years in prison for drug trafficking.
Lobo was Hernandez’s mentor and oversaw his rise to power.
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