TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — For years, U.S. officials faced an uncomfortable dilemma: The president of Honduras was one of Washington’s top allies in Central America — but evidence was mounting that he was also a drug trafficker.
U.S. prosecutors identified President Juan Orlando Hernández as a co-conspirator in a drug smuggling case against his brother and by last fall appeared ready to indict him.
But the Biden administration pushed back. White House officials were reluctant to go after a sitting head of state — especially one whose government had received hundreds of millions of dollars and other crucial support from the Americans.
