Former President Juan Orlando Hernndez Returns to Honduras After Arrest Warrant Suspended

FILE – Honduras’ President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks during the opening ceremony of the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, Monday Nov. 1, 2021. Andy Buchanan/Pool via AP, FileTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras—Four years after being extradited to the United States for his drug trafficking trial, former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández arrived in his country Sunday to face corruption charges.Hernández, once considered an ally by the United States in the drug war, led Honduras from 2014 to 2022, during which he boasted that he would “shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos,” according to U.S. prosecutors.His extradition shortly after leaving office marked a rare chance at justice for Hondurans, who feared his hold on the country’s justice system would never allow a conviction on Honduran soil.But the former leader, sentenced to 45 years in prison in the United States, was released in December after receiving a presidential pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump. He said Hernández did not receive a fair trial and that it was a setup orchestrated by the Biden administration.Hernández now returns to Honduras to face corruption charges.Hernández, 57, faces charges related to a case known as Pandora I, which alleges that a network of former high-ranking officials from 2010 to 2013 participated in the expansion and approval of public funds disbursements totaling more than 288 million lempiras ($10.8 million) to various foundations, according to an investigation by the country’s Specialized Prosecutor’s Unit Against Corruption Networks, or UFERCO.According to UFERCO, Hernández benefited from these disbursements, receiving at least 62 million lempiras ($2.3 million) for his political campaign through various schemes, including the creation of shell companies, the use of straw men and fictitious contracts.Hernández has said he is innocent and that the case “lacks any legal basis.”In June, a judge suspended his arrest warrant and the international red notice issued to Interpol at the request of Hernández’s lawyer, although the case is still pending. The former president has agreed to appear before the judge on Aug. 3 for his arraignment.