Trump says will pardon former Honduras leader before presidential vote

"United States President Donald Trump says he will pardon the former leader of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez, just days before the Central American country's closely contested presidential election. The announcement on Friday came two days before Honduras's vote, in which Trump has endorsed conservative National Party candidate Nasry Tito Asfura. Hernandez was the party's last successful presidential candidate and had served as president from 2014 to 2022. Last year, he was sentenced to 45 years in prison in the US after being extradited from Honduras on charges of drug trafficking."

"In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that Hernandez has been treated very harshly and unfairly. He cited many people that I greatly respect. Trump also again threw his support behind Asfura, who is facing four opponents in the scandal-plagued race. No clear frontrunner has yet emerged. He added that a loss for Asfura would lead to a rupture in US support for the country of about 11 million, echoing a similar threat he made in support of Javier Milei before Argentina's presidential election in October."

"If he doesn't win, the United States will not be throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader can only bring catastrophic results to a country, no matter which country it is, Trump wrote. The US president and several right-wing figures have previously accused Rixi Moncada, the candidate for outgoing President Xiomara Castro's left-leaning LIBRE party, as well as Salvador Nasralla, of the centre-right Liberal Party, of being in the pocket of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro."

President Donald Trump announced a pledge to pardon former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez days before Honduras's closely contested presidential vote and after endorsing National Party candidate Nasry Tito Asfura. Hernandez served from 2014 to 2022 and was extradited to the US, where he was sentenced to 45 years on drug trafficking charges. Trump posted on Truth Social saying Hernandez was treated harshly and unfairly and reiterated support for Asfura, who faces four opponents and no clear frontrunner. Trump warned that an Asfura loss could prompt a rupture in US support and has increased pressure on Venezuela, including deploying military assets to the region.

Read at www.aljazeera.com