Donald Trump has said that he will pardon the former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted of drug trafficking charges in a US court last year.
The US president said Hernández had been 'treated very harshly and unfairly' in a social media post announcing the move on Friday.
Hernández was found guilty in March 2024 of conspiring to import cocaine into the US, and of possessing machine guns. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
Trump also threw his support behind conservative presidential candidate Nasry 'Tito' Asfura in the Central American nation's general election, due to be held on Sunday.
Hernández, a member of the National Party, served as Honduras's president from 2014 to 2022, and was extradited to the US in April 2022 to stand trial for running a violent drug trafficking conspiracy.
Polls show the Honduran election is competitive, with Asfura facing Rixi Moncada and Salvador Nasralla, both notable figures in their own right. Trump criticized Moncada and Nasralla, calling the latter 'a borderline Communist.'
The Trump administration has previously accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of leading a narcotics cartel. The recent political alignments signal significant changes as Honduras navigates its next presidential term amid US influence.
