Updated 7 pm
For years, former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hern谩ndez has been implicated in U.S. court records for taking part in drug trafficking. 港澳天下彩has learned the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman will ask the Biden administration on Thursday to designate Hern谩ndez a drug kingpin.
港澳天下彩is committed to providing the trusted news and local reporting you rely on. Please keep 港澳天下彩strong with your support today. now. Thank you.
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) is urging the administration to revoke Hern谩ndez鈥檚 U.S. visa and list him as a 鈥渟ignificant foreign narcotics trafficker" under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. He also recommends the Honduran politico be included in the State Department's roster of corrupt and undemocratic actors in Central America.
"It is long past time for the U.S. Government to pursue accountability measures against Juan Orlando Hern谩ndez," Menendez writes, adding he has "endangered U.S. national security and the prosperity of the Honduran people."
Hern谩ndez was president of Honduras for eight years before leaving office last week. In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, obtained by WLRN, Menendez points out several U.S. court cases have identified Hern谩ndez as a narco 鈥渃o-conspirator.鈥�
Those include the case of Hern谩ndez鈥檚 brother Tony Hern谩ndez, a former Honduran congressman, tried in New York. A U.S. judge sentenced him to life in federal prison last year for cocaine and weapons trafficking. Trial testimony said then President Hern谩ndez ordered his brother to accept a $1 million bribe on his behalf from the infamous Mexican drug lord Joaqu铆n Guzm谩n, known as El Chapo.
In another Honduran trafficker's case tried in New York, then President Hern谩ndez 鈥� listed in testimony as a co-conspirator 鈥� was alleged to have pocketed bribes to protect drug cartel operations from the police and military.
Hern谩ndez has long denied any ties to drug trafficking. But Menendez says U.S. officials deem the evidence against him credible. And he argues holding Hern谩ndez accountable is crucial in light of President Biden鈥檚 efforts to fight corruption and violence in Central America 鈥� and in turn mass migration from the region.
Narco-gang terror and deep poverty force tens of thousands of Hondurans to flee the country each year 鈥� making the country the largest source of asylum-seekers on the U.S. southern border.
Hern谩ndez isn't the only former Honduran president under U.S. scrutiny. Last year the State Department barred Porfirio Lobo, Hern谩ndez's predecessor and National Party mate, from entering the U.S., alleging he too had accepted cartel bribes.
Five years ago Lobo's son Fabio was sentenced to 24 years in prison in the U.S. for drug trafficking.
A State Department spokesperson said the allegations against Hern谩ndez are taken "very seriously" and that "combating corruption and narco-trafficking are at the center of the U.S. government鈥檚 commitment to addressing the root causes of irregular migration and improving conditions in the region."
