- Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez emerged battered from the trial and conviction of his brother on Friday after the U.S. Justice Department concluded that the evidence showed narcotraffickers had bribed the president and his party.
U.S. prosecutors did not indict President Hernandez. But the Department of Justice reiterated in a statement after the verdict that as a candidate and then president, Hernandez received drug money for his electoral campaigns, including from Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.Analysts say the verdict has undoubtedly weakened the president, who has faced intermittent street protests calling for his ouster since he was sworn in for a second term in January 2018 amid allegations of fraud.
Hernandez says the allegations are the fabrications of criminals bent on revenge for his efforts against organised crime. “It is no longer a suspicion he is involved in drug trafficking,” Zelaya said. “He has to be accused.” “If in this trial they came out with clear evidence – for example audio or video or pictures of Juan Orlando taking money from drug traffickers - it probably would have meant the end of his administration,” said Ver Beek.
The president cooperated in extraditions, purging a corrupt police force and bolstering prosecutors and even invited in a key Organization of American States-sponsored anti-corruption body, measures that helped hasten his younger brother’s trial.
Sounds a bit extreme
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