{"id":71560,"date":"2025-12-04T21:06:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T21:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/71560\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T21:06:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T21:06:16","slug":"trump-pardons-ex-president-in-drug-case-amid-cartel-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/71560\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Pardons Ex-President in Drug Case Amid Cartel Fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> and former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hern\u00e1ndez have both been indicted by the U.S. government on federal drug trafficking charges; Hern\u00e1ndez, last year, was convicted. <\/p>\n

But as President Donald Trump wages an \u201carmed conflict\u201d with drug cartels in the Caribbean, he has taken very different approaches in his relationships with the two men\u2014threatening to deploy military force in an escalating pressure campaign<\/a> against one, while offering the other clemency.<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez, who received a 45-year sentence for conspiring with some of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world to transport an estimated 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S., was released from prison on Tuesday after Trump pardoned him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hern\u00e1ndez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly,\u201d Trump wrote<\/a> on Truth Social on Friday.<\/p>\n

Just a day later, the President ramped up his threats against Venezuela, saying<\/a> that the airspace above the country should be considered \u201cCLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.\u201d He warned<\/a> earlier the same week that land strikes against Venezuela could be happening \u201cvery soon.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Trump Administration has called Maduro\u2019s government “illegitimate<\/a>\u201d and accused the Venezuelan President of being a \u201cnarco-terrorist\u201d affiliated with the criminal network Cartel de Los Soles, which the U.S. designated as a terrorist organization<\/a> last week. In recent months, the Administration has amassed a significant military presence in the Caribbean to pressure Venezuela\u2019s leadership in what it has characterized as an effort to stop cartels from trafficking drugs to the U.S. Many see the buildup as an attempt to oust Maduro from power.<\/p>\n

Read more: How Pete Hegseth\u2019s Account of a Deadly Strike in the Caribbean Keeps Changing<\/a><\/p>\n

The Venezuelan President has denied any ties to the illegal drug trade, and his government has condemned Trump\u2019s warning that the country\u2019s air space should be considered closed as a \u201ccolonialist threat\u201d and \u201cyet another extravagant, illegal and unjustified aggression against the Venezuelan people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Within the U.S., lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have questioned Trump\u2019s decision to pardon Hern\u00e1ndez on the one hand while threatening Maduro on the other.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince September, President Trump has struck over 20 boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean in a supposed effort to crack down on drug trafficking\u2014ordering the illegal execution of unknown people without evidence or trials and forfeiting the ability to gather valuable intelligence,\u201d Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cBut he finds it perfectly acceptable to excuse rich guys like Russ Ulbricht<\/a>, who was sentenced to life in prison after founding the world\u2019s largest online drug marketplace, and now Juan Orlando Hern\u00e1ndez \u2026 This is a disgusting and incomprehensible decision by Trump, and Americans whose lives have been destroyed by narcotraffickers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would we pardon this guy and then go after Maduro for running drugs into the United States?\u201d Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana wrote<\/a> on social media. \u201cLock up every drug runner! Don\u2019t understand why he is being pardoned.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what you should know.<\/p>\n

A pardon for Hern\u00e1ndez\u00a0<\/p>\n

The White House confirmed on Tuesday that Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s pardon had been issued and his lawyer said that he had been released from a federal prison in West Virginia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s wife, Ana Garc\u00eda de Hern\u00e1ndez, thanked Trump following her husband\u2019s pardon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter nearly four years of pain, waiting, and difficult trials, my husband Juan Orlando Hern\u00e1ndez RETURNED to being a free man, thanks to the presidential pardon granted by President Donald Trump,\u201d she said in a social media post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez served as president of Honduras from 2014 until 2022, including during Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n

Months after the two-term President left office, an indictment<\/a> issued in April 2022 charged Hern\u00e1ndez with crimes dating back to 2004, since which time federal U.S. prosecutors alleged he \u201cparticipated in a corrupt and violent drug-trafficking conspiracy to facilitate the importation of hundreds of thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States.\u201d He was extradited to the U.S. in 2022 and convicted in March of last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez characterized his prosecution as a \u201crigged trial\u201d that was \u201cbased on uncorroborated statements of convicted drug traffickers\u201d while blaming the \u201cclear case of lawfare by the Biden-Harris administration\u201d for his unjust imprisonment in a letter he sent to Trump days before the President announced his plan to pardon him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have found strength from you, Sir,\u201d Hern\u00e1ndez wrote in the letter. \u201cYour resilience to get back in that great office notwithstanding the persecution and prosecution you faced, all for what, because you wished to make your country Great Again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez drew comparisons between himself and Trump, saying, \u201cLike you, I sought only to serve my people, to uphold our conservative values while leading unprecedented reforms to make my country stronger and safer.\u201d <\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s announcement of Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s pardon came as spoke repeatedly in support of Tito Asfura, a candidate in Honduras\u2019 Nov. 30 presidential election. Trump claimed that Asfura was \u201cstanding up for Democracy, and fighting against Maduro\u201d in a Truth Social post last week, and then further advocated for Asfura\u2019s election in the same post in which he said<\/a> he would pardon Hern\u00e1ndez two days later. <\/p>\n

Trump appeared to connect the pardon and the election in the post, asserting after he said Hern\u00e1ndez had been treated \u201cvery harshly and unfairly\u201d that \u201cthis cannot be allowed to happen, especially now, after Tito Asfura wins the Election, when Honduras will be on its way to Great Political and Financial Success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump hasn\u2019t provided evidence for the claim that Hern\u00e1ndez was prosecuted unfairly. His decision to pardon the former Honduran leader has caused a stir among U.S. lawmakers, including some in his own party. <\/p>\n

Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida said in an interview earlier this week that she would not have pardoned Hern\u00e1ndez, while at the same time praising the President\u2019s approach to Venezuela.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2018t think that that was what I would have done,\u201d she said on CNN on Monday regarding the pardon. \u201cBut I repeat, I\u2018m not in the Oval Office. I do know that right now what the President is doing with Venezuela is exactly correct for many reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House has defended Trump\u2019s decision to grant Hern\u00e1ndez clemency amid the criticism, doubling down on the claim that the former Honduran President was unfairly prosecuted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the president of this country. He was in the opposition party,\u201d White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday. \u201cHe was opposed to the values of the previous administration, and they charged him because he was president of Honduras.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TOPSHOT-VENEZUELA-ELECTION-GOVERNMENT-MADURO\"Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro delivers a speech as he holds a replica of Liberator Simon Bolivar’s sword during a rally in Caracas on August 28, 2024. Pedro Rances Mattey\u2014AFP\/Getty ImagesA standoff with Maduro<\/p>\n

The Trump Administration\u2019s efforts to pressure Maduro, meanwhile, are continuing to escalate.<\/p>\n

Speaking during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that the U.S. has \u201conly just begun<\/a>\u201d its targeting of drug traffickers after carrying out a number of controversial and deadly strikes on boats the Administration has said are part of drug-smuggling networks tied to the Venezuelan President.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Administration began targeting suspected drug boats in the region beginning in early September.<\/p>\n

Read more: Trump\u2019s Caribbean Bombing Campaign Brings War on Terror to the Americas<\/a><\/p>\n

Since the first of the strikes was carried out on Sept. 2, over 80 people have been killed by more than 20 U.S. attacks on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean through what the Administration has dubbed \u201cOperation Southern Spear.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Administration has not provided evidence for its claims that the vessels were carrying drugs, or that certain of the boats belonged to Tren De Aragua, a Venezuelan gang the U.S. designated as a terrorist organization earlier this year. The United Nations and other humanitarian organizations have described the attacks as extrajudicial killings<\/a>\u2014as has the Venezuelan government,.<\/p>\n

Amid the strikes, the U.S. has built up the largest deployment of its forces in the region in decades, including dozens of ships, roughly 15,000 troops, and the most advanced U.S. aircraft carrier. Maduro accused the U.S. of \u201cfabricating a new war\u201d after the carrier ship, the world\u2019s largest warship, arrived<\/a> in the waters near Venezuela in mid-November. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe moving of the aircraft carrier from one theater to another, bringing it from Europe to Latin America, is one of those crossing the Rubicon moments,\u201d Ryan Berg, director of the Americas Program and head of the Future of Venezuela Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says to TIME.<\/p>\n

While Administration officials have characterized the U.S. moves in the region as a fight against cartels, the military operation is being seen by many\u2014including Maduro himself\u2014as an attempt to expel the Venezuelan leader from power. Trump reportedly gave Maduro an ultimatum on a call in November, saying he would grant Maduro and his family safe passage if he agreed to resign immediately, according to the Miami Herald<\/a>, which cited sources familiar with the exchange.<\/p>\n

The Administration also targeted Maduro specifically when it designated<\/a> Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles as a terrorist organization last week. The U.S. government has alleged Cartel de los Soles, a term used to describe a decentralized network of military and government officials allegedly involved in drug operations and corruption, is headed by Maduro and other high-ranking Venezuelan officials. Federal prosecutors previously accused Maduro of acting as a leader of the group since at least 1999 when indicting<\/a> him during the first Trump Administration on charges including narcoterrorism and drug trafficking.<\/p>\n

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the designation of Cartel de Los Soles as a terrorist organization would give the Administration \u201cnew options<\/a>\u201d for the U.S. to operate in the region. <\/p>\n

Maduro and his government rejected the move, with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto calling it a \u201cridiculous fabrication\u201d and denying that Cartel de los Soles exists in a post on his Telegram account. <\/p>\n

Trump and other Administration officials\u2019 opposition to Maduro dates back years. During Trump\u2019s first term, he recognized<\/a> Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country\u2019s interim president, calling Maduro\u2019s presidency illegitimate, along with other countries including Canada, Brazil and Argentina.<\/p>\n

Rubio, the U.S.\u2019s top diplomat, is a staunch and long-time opponent of Maduro; Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist and former Trump appointee to the State Department in his previous Administration, tells TIME the then-Florida Senator \u201cwas in the Oval Office and in the ear of the President, maybe even in the hands of the President\u201d during the opposition to Maduro in Trump\u2019s first term. And the Secretary of State continues to play a key role now, as the current Administration puts pressure on Maduro to relinquish power\u2014and threatens to take still more aggressive action. <\/p>\n

What comes next in the conflict remains unclear. Experts say further military escalation is possible, with both Trump and Maduro apparently standing their ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think there’s a real possibility that Trump greenlights strikes because he’s moved all this equipment into the region,\u201d Berg says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rebecca Ingber, Professor at Cardozo Law School and an expert on international law who served in at the State Department, tells TIME that the U.S. doesn\u2019t have legal justification to attack Venezuela\u2014and that doing so could lead to Venezuela and allies acting in self-defense and potentially expand the conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s the, first and foremost, most significant repercussion under international law: committing an armed attack against another state gives that state the right to act in self defense,\u201d Ingber says. \u201cWe ourselves have not been subject to an armed attack by Venezuela, so we do not have the right to use force against Venezuela.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through a domestic lens, Ingber also notes that the Administration would need congressional approval to use force, such as an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). There have been recent bills proposed to prohibit the president from using force, but they have not passed and \u201cCongress has collective action problems, and it\u2019s not always able to legislate when the President acts,\u201d Ingber says. <\/p>\n

Maduro, for his part, has warned that Venezuela would fight if the U.S. takes military action against the country.<\/p>\n

“We’re ready for an armed fight, if it’s necessary,” Maduro said while speaking in a broadcast on state television in October alongside his defense minister. “Along all the Venezuelan coasts, from the border with Colombia to the east of the country, from north to south and east to west, we have a full preparation of official troops.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hern\u00e1ndez have both been indicted by the U.S.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[41087,139,141,140,4945],"class_list":["post-71560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-news-desk","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-trump-administration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}