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Saturday 29 Nov 2025
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Donald Trump.
US President Donald Trump has made an unusual intervention in Honduras’s presidential election, endorsing conservative candidate Nasry Asfura and announcing he would grant a full pardon to former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, who is serving a 45-year sentence in the United States on drug-trafficking charges.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the US would be "very supportive" if Asfura wins Sunday’s election, but warned that Washington "will not be throwing good money after bad" if he loses, suggesting that future US assistance could depend on Asfura’s victory.
Trump had previously expressed support for Asfura but went further on Friday, directly linking US policy to the vote.
Asfura, a former mayor of Tegucigalpa and candidate of the right-wing National Party, welcomed Trump’s renewed endorsement and denied any connection to Hernandez.
Pardon for Hernandez
Trump also said he would pardon Hernandez, who was convicted in New York last year of helping facilitate the smuggling of some 400 tonnes of cocaine into the US over nearly two decades.
Hernandez, who governed from 2014 to 2022, was extradited shortly after leaving office.
Trump claimed the former leader had been "treated very harshly and unfairly," without offering evidence.
The intervention comes just days before Hondurans head to the polls in a tight three-way race between Asfura, leftist lawyer Rixi Moncada and right-wing television host Salvador Nasralla.
Trump accused Nasralla of acting as a spoiler candidate to split the conservative vote and labelled Moncada a "communist," claiming her victory would strengthen Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and "his Narcoterrorists."
The pardoning pledge also comes against the backdrop of an extensive US anti-drug operation across Latin America.
Washington says the mission targets narcotics trafficking, with more than 80 people reported killed in strikes in international waters since September.
Hernandez’s conviction originated from a US case built over several years.
After his sentencing last year, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland said Hernandez had "abused his power to support one of the largest and most violent drug trafficking conspiracies in the world."
Trump tied both the endorsement and the pardon to the Honduran vote, saying the country could be on the verge of "Great Political and Financial Success" if Asfura wins.
"Vote for Tito Asfuro for president, and congratulations to Juan Orlando Hernandez on your upcoming pardon," Trump wrote.
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Source: TRT
