Narco Corruption in Honduras
Honduras represents perhaps the most extreme case of narco-state capture in the Western Hemisphere, validated by the unprecedented 2024 conviction of former President Juan Orlando Hernández on charges of trafficking 400+ tons of cocaine. Every branch of government and the armed forces was implicated. The National Party was partially financed with drug money, and El Chapo allegedly paid bribes directly to JOH.
Trump’s 2025 pardon of Hernández (despite a 45-year sentence) exemplifies the US policy contradictions: simultaneously funding security forces and prosecuting their leaders.
Referenced by
- sourcesEnablers of Cocaine Trafficking: Evidence of the State-Crime Nexus from Contemporary Honduras
- sourcesNarcotrafficking and Land Control in Guatemala and Honduras
- sourcesHonduras: A Narco-State Made in the United States
- notesNarco Corruption Across Latin America: Comparative Patterns
- eventsConviction of Juan Orlando Hernández