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The Conversation
Laura Blume, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Nevada, Reno

Pardoned by Trump and escaping charges at home, ex-Honduran leader’s case shows a nation’s struggle for sovereignty

Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández acknowledges supporters upon his return to Honduras on July 26, 2026. AP Photo/Fernando Destephen,File

A Honduran judge on Sept. 1, 2026, dismissed a sprawling money-laundering and fraud case against the country’s former president, Juan Orlando Hernández. It was the latest stroke of good fortune for Hernández.

Hernández returned home in late July after an eventful four years outside Honduras. He was extradited to the United States in 2022 following a multiyear, nonpartisan U.S. investigation. In 2024 he was convicted of cocaine trafficking and related charges and sentenced to 45 years behind bars in the U.S. Yet after serving only 18 months of his sentence, Hernández was pardoned by President Donald Trump.

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