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Former Honduran president sentenced to 45 years for helping traffickers get tons of cocaine into US
Read full article: Former Honduran president sentenced to 45 years for helping traffickers get tons of cocaine into USFormer Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández has been sentenced to 45 years in prison and fined $8 million for enabling drug traffickers to use his military and national police force to help get tons of cocaine into the United States.
Honduras ex-first lady says presidential bid not meant to protect herself after husband's conviction
Read full article: Honduras ex-first lady says presidential bid not meant to protect herself after husband's convictionHonduras’ former first lady Ana García de Hernández says her decision to seek the presidency next year is about showing the world the injustice that was done to her recently convicted husband, not an attempt to protect herself from prosecution as some allege.
Former president of Honduras convicted in US of aiding drug traffickers
Read full article: Former president of Honduras convicted in US of aiding drug traffickersFormer Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández has been convicted in New York of charges that he conspired with drug traffickers, his military and police to enable tons of cocaine to make it unhindered into the United States.
Hondurans are glued to their former president's drug trafficking trial in a New York courtroom
Read full article: Hondurans are glued to their former president's drug trafficking trial in a New York courtroomHondurans call it the “Trial of the Century,” but it’s occurring in a New York courtroom some 3,500 miles away.
Ex-Honduran president defends himself at New York drug trafficking trial
Read full article: Ex-Honduran president defends himself at New York drug trafficking trialFormer Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández took the witness stand in his defense at his New York trial, denying that he teamed up with drug dealers to protect them in return for millions of dollars in bribes.
Honduran ex-president accused of running his country as a ‘narco-state’ stands trial in NYC
Read full article: Honduran ex-president accused of running his country as a ‘narco-state’ stands trial in NYCFormer Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is facing charges that he ran his impoverished Central American nation as a “narco-state."
Honduras ex-president Hernández to face charges in US court
Read full article: Honduras ex-president Hernández to face charges in US courtFormer Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is expected to appear virtually in federal court in New York to face drug trafficking and weapons charges after he was arrested in Honduras and extradited to the United States.
EXPLAINER: Ex-Honduras leader long in US prosecutors' sights
Read full article: EXPLAINER: Ex-Honduras leader long in US prosecutors' sightsFormer Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández was arrested at the request of the United States on drug trafficking charges Tuesday and a Honduran judge will decide if he is eventually extradited to stand trial in the U.S. While Hernández was president, he was untouchable for Honduras’ co-opted justice system and successive U.S. administrations made no move alienate him.
A stunning fall for ex-Honduran president wanted in US
Read full article: A stunning fall for ex-Honduran president wanted in USThe arrest of former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández and the images of a leader shackled and paraded before cameras like a common criminal are a stunning reversal for a man who for years seemed impervious to growing allegations of corruption.
US asks Honduras to arrest, extradite ex-President Hernández
Read full article: US asks Honduras to arrest, extradite ex-President HernándezThe United States has formally requested the arrest and extradition of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández on drug and weapons charges less than three weeks after he left office.
Honduras ex-President Hernández arrested at US request
Read full article: Honduras ex-President Hernández arrested at US requestPolice have arrested former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, a step toward fulfilling a request by the United States government for his extradition on drug trafficking and weapons charges.
Ex-Honduran leader placed on US list of corrupt officials
Read full article: Ex-Honduran leader placed on US list of corrupt officialsThe Biden administration last year quietly placed former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández on a classified list of officials suspected of corruption or undermining democracy in Central America.
AP Sources: El Salvador president snubs visiting Biden envoy
Read full article: AP Sources: El Salvador president snubs visiting Biden envoyAides to El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele say he's refused to meet with a visiting senior U.S. diplomat over what he sees as a pattern of slights from Democrats and the Biden administration.
US wants life in prison for brother of Honduras president
Read full article: US wants life in prison for brother of Honduras president“The defendant was a Honduran congressman who, along with his brother Juan Orlando Hernández, played a leadership role in a violent, state sponsored drug trafficking conspiracy,” prosecutors wrote. AdThe U.S. government wants Tony Hernández to give up $138.5 million in “blood money” from his drug trafficking and pay an additional $10 million fine. They say he also sold weapons to drug traffickers, some of which came from Honduras’ military, and controlled drug laboratories in Colombia and Honduras. They allege that among those bribes was $1 million from notorious Mexican capo Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to Juan Orlando Hernández. In those, Fuentes admitted knowing drug traffickers but denied having paid any money to president Hernández.
Accountant testifies he saw Honduras president take bribes
Read full article: Accountant testifies he saw Honduras president take bribesThe accountant said he felt fear seeing Hernández and a drug trafficker sitting at the same table. “I was seeing the candidate for the presidency meeting with a drug trafficker,” he said. That alleged drug trafficker was Geovanny Fuentes Ramírez, whose New York trial is in its second week. The accountant testified that that movement of drugs would be done with the help of the military and police. In another meeting at the company’s offices without Fuentes Ramírez present, Hernández boasted about siphoning money from Honduras’ social security system, the accountant testified.
Hondurans await results in primary elections
Read full article: Hondurans await results in primary elections(AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)TEGUCIGALPA – Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández’s name keeps popping up in the New York trial of an alleged drug trafficker. And one of the candidates running to replace him in Sunday’s primary elections has been convicted in the same court of laundering money for the same cartel. Polls closed at 5 p.m. and the vote count had begun, but there was no immediate word on when results would be available. Political analyst and three-time former presidential candidate Olban Valladares said the elections are an opportunity for Hondurans to begin to free themselves of failed leaders. But voters will also choose the candidates who will compete for the 128 seats of the National Congress in November, as well as 298 local governments and other positions.
Drug trafficker says he bribed Honduras president
Read full article: Drug trafficker says he bribed Honduras presidentFILE - In this Jan. 14, 2020, file photo, Honduras' President Juan Orlando Hernandez arrives for the swearing-in ceremony for Guatemala's new President Alejandro Giammattei at the National Theater in Guatemala City. AdThe accusation came in the third day of testimony in the trial of alleged drug trafficker Geovanny Fuentes Ramírez. U.S. prosecutors have made it clear that allegations against President Hernández would arise during the trial, though he has not been charged. During that trial, the president was accused of accepting more than $1 million from Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Alvarez said that he had never taken money from Rivera Maradiaga, who called the politicians he allegedly bribed “narco-politicians.”Ad“I don’t have anything to hide,” Alvarez wrote.
US prosecutors allege Honduras president helped move drugs
Read full article: US prosecutors allege Honduras president helped move drugs“They plotted to send as much cocaine as possible to the United States,” Gutwillig said of the president and Fuentes Ramírez. But much of the prosecutors’ artillery appears aimed at Hernández, who they said helped Fuentes Ramírez’s drug trafficking along with other high-ranking officials. Prosecutors have previously said that Fuentes Ramírez paid Hernández $25,000 to be allowed to move drugs through the country without interference. He says that the allegations against him come from drug traffickers seeking revenge and looking to lighten their sentences. He has said Fuentes Ramírez had weapons and body guards because Honduras is a dangerous country.
Honduras leader warns drug cooperation with US endangered
Read full article: Honduras leader warns drug cooperation with US endangeredFILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019 file photo, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks to the reporters as he leaves a meeting at the Organization of American States, in Washington. Newly proposed U.S. legislation introduced Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, targets Orlando Hernandez as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)TEGUCIGALPÁ – TEGUCIGALPÁHonduran President Juan Orlando Hernández says that antinarcotics cooperation with the United States could “collapse” if U.S. authorities believe “false testimony” accusing him of cooperating with traffickers. Earlier this month, U.S. prosecutors filed documents in an upcoming trial suggesting the president himself was under investigation. One of his numerous brothers, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, was convicted in New York of a drug conspiracy in 2019.
Honduras leader warns drug cooperation with US endangered
Read full article: Honduras leader warns drug cooperation with US endangeredFILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019 file photo, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks to the reporters as he leaves a meeting at the Organization of American States, in Washington. Newly proposed U.S. legislation introduced Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, targets Orlando Hernandez as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)TEGUCIGALPÁ – TEGUCIGALPÁHonduran President Juan Orlando Hernández warned Wednesday that antinarcotics cooperation with the United States could “collapse” if U.S. authorities believe “false testimony” in U.S. courts accusing him of cooperating with traffickers. He suggested that traffickers were trying to manipulate U.S. authorities into helping them take vengeance on the Honduran officials pursuing them. One of his numerous brothers, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, was convicted in New York of a drug conspiracy in 2019.
Proposed US legislation would target Honduras president
Read full article: Proposed US legislation would target Honduras presidentFILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019 file photo, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks to the reporters as he leaves a meeting at the Organization of American States, in Washington. Newly proposed U.S. legislation introduced Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, targets Orlando Hernandez as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)MEXICO CITY – Newly proposed U.S. legislation targets Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. As the administration of President Joe Biden seeks to return the issues of corruption and human rights to relations with Honduras and other Central American countries, a group of Democratic senators says the U.S. government’s relationship with Honduras must change. Under the administration of President Donald Trump, immigration overshadowed everything else in the relationship.
US motions expand drug claims against Honduras president
Read full article: US motions expand drug claims against Honduras president(UNTV via AP)NEW YORK – U.S. federal prosecutors have filed motions saying that Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández took bribes from drug traffickers and had the country's armed forces protect a cocaine laboratory and shipments to the United States. The documents quote Hernández as saying he wanted to “'shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos' by flooding the United States with cocaine." The motions filed Friday with the U.S. Southern District of New York do not specifically name the president, referring to him as “CC-4,” or co-conspirator No. During that trial, the president was accused of accepting more than $1 million from Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán — an accusation repeated in the new motions. At this time, CC-4 was pursuing election as the President of Honduras as a member of the Partido Nacional de Honduras (the “National Party”),” the motion said.
Macron is the latest world leader to catch COVID-19
Read full article: Macron is the latest world leader to catch COVID-19Trump announced in October that he and his wife, first lady Melania Trump, tested positive for the coronavirus. DONALD TRUMPPresident Donald Trump announced in October that he and his wife, first lady Melania Trump, tested positive for the coronavirus. BORIS JOHNSONThe British prime minister was the first major world leader confirmed to have COVID-19, after facing criticism for downplaying the pandemic. Other top officials in former Soviet states who were infected include Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. 2 man in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, was hospitalized for COVID-19 last month and has recovered.
Trump joins growing list of virus-infected world leaders
Read full article: Trump joins growing list of virus-infected world leadersHe was moved to intensive care in April after his virus symptoms dramatically worsened a day after he was hospitalized for what were called routine tests. (Pippa Fowles/10 Downing Street via AP, File)JOHANNESBURG – President Donald Trump has joined a growing group of world leaders who have been infected with the coronavirus. BORIS JOHNSONThe British prime minister was the first major world leader confirmed to have COVID-19, after facing criticism for downplaying the pandemic. Other top officials in former Soviet states who were infected include Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. GAMBIAVice President Isatou Touray tested positive in July along with the ministers of finance, energy and agriculture.
Why Hondurans are taking to the streets or leaving the country
Read full article: Why Hondurans are taking to the streets or leaving the countryCNN videoTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Dead protesters, a "failed state" and accusations of high-level drug trafficking. While many Hondurans continue to leave the country in search of a new life, members of a variety of groups from across society are making their feelings known in the streets. His brother Antonio was arrested by US investigators on drug trafficking charges in November 2018, but he has denied the charges. Violence has flared during the recent protests after Hernandez put soldiers on the streets, leading to widespread condemnation. Honduras saw homicide rates more than double between 2005 and 2010, and became the world's most murderous country in 2012.