Journalists in Honduras who have covered the rise and fall of Hernandez – from the moment he rose to national prominence following a coup in 2009 to his extradition – struggle to recognise that description of a roundly detested former president.

However, he does still have his supporters, particularly in the National Party. And none have been more vocal in maintaining his innocence or calling for his pardon than his wife, Ana Garcia Carias.

I sat down with the former First Lady, who described Mr Hernandez’s release as “like being in a dream, a dream made reality”.

“We spoke to him this morning (Tuesday) and he is in a safe place. We were so happy, we got all the children onto the phone together with my mother-in-law, and shared a moment of happiness, laughter and prayer together.”

In terms of the future, the question now arises as to whether Mr Hernandez will attempt to return to Honduras. Ms Garcia Carias says that his potential return depends less on the outcome of the election and more on whether the authorities will guarantee his safety.

“It depends on the security guarantees they give him in this country”, she says.

“Day after day, this government – which thank God is on its way out – used a discourse of hate about my husband that they spoke of persecution against him. And that’s very dangerous for an ex-president – to return to a place where they’ve cultivated hatred against him from the very top, the president, down to the lowliest functionary.”

Ms Garcia Carias claimed Mr Hernandez had been a victim of “lawfare”, of “the deep state” and of a “politically motivated witch-hunt” by the Biden administration. I put it to her that the case against her husband had largely been drawn up by the Drug Enforcement Agency and the US Department of Justice during Trump’s first term, not President Biden’s.

It was a point she quickly dismissed.

“That’s what the prosecutors claimed but I think it’s so illogical,” she argues. “In whose mind would it make sense to bring a man they say was a co-conspirator into meetings with the CIA, the DEA, to give classified information on national security?”

“There was a political campaign (against him) involving figures in the Biden administration,” she insisted, “and I think there was manipulation of the facts after the event.”