Central America

Former president of Honduras found guilty of drug trafficking by U.S. justice

The prosecution, alleging that the former president created a narco-state during his presidency (2014-2022), accused him of conspiring to traffic drugs to the United States, as well as conspiring to traffic arms, offenses that carry potential life sentences.

Former President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, was declared guilty of drug trafficking and arms trafficking by a federal jury in New York on Friday, concluding a landmark trial that could see him spend the rest of his life in prison.

On its second day of deliberations, the 12-member jury announced its unanimous verdict shortly before 13:30 local time, finding Hernández guilty on all three charges brought by the prosecution.

“I am innocent, tell the world, I love you,” Hernández said as he left the court, addressing his family, including two sisters-in-law, and the three generals who came to testify on his behalf in this trial.

Flanked by his lawyers, moments before Judge Kevin Castel called the parties to hear the verdict, 55-year-old Hernández appeared to be praying.

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Afterwards, he reacted to the verdict by shaking his head in disbelief as the jury spokesperson responded to each of the judge’s questions to establish his guilt.

The prosecution, asserting that the former president created a narco-state during his presidency (2014-2022), accused him of conspiring to traffic drugs to the United States, as well as conspiring to traffic arms, offenses that carry potential life sentences.

The judge is yet to announce the former president’s sentence in the coming weeks or months.

According to the U.S. prosecution, Hernández participated in and protected a network that sent over 500 tons of cocaine to the United States between 2004 and 2022, while he was a congressman, president of the Congress, and later president of the Republic. In exchange, he allegedly received millions of dollars from cartels, including Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who was sentenced to life in prison in the United States.

Extradited in April 2022 to the United States, three months after handing over the presidency to leftist successor Xiomara Castro, the convicted individual is known for the infamous phrase “We are going to put the drugs in their noses (to the Americans) and they won’t even notice,” according to a witness.

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Asked by AFP, defense attorney Renato Stabile, with tears in his eyes, said that “obviously the verdict is harsh, but mentally, he is very strong.”

This staunch ally of Republican President Donald Trump (2017-2021) once boasted about Washington’s praise for his government’s efforts in the fight against drug trafficking.

Prosecutor Jacob H. Gutwillig reminded the jury that while the accused publicly promoted laws against drug trafficking and the extradition of drug lords to the United States, he also met with U.S. officials behind closed doors. However, “none of this undoes what the accused did behind closed doors.”

“He is a drug trafficker,” Gutwillig concluded.

Since 2014, Honduras has extradited 38 people accused of drug trafficking to the United States. Others surrendered to U.S. authorities or were arrested outside the country.

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Former police chief Juan Carlos “Tigre” Bonilla and former police officer Mauricio Hernández, who were to be tried with the former president, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking a few days before the trial began. Their sentences will be announced in the coming months.

Many of the dozen witnesses presented by the prosecution highlighted the corruption and close ties between politics and drug trafficking.

“The political elite, which is also the economic elite, has operated in complete impunity” over the past 15 years, since the 2009 coup, emboldened by “the support it received from foreign governments despite knowing that it was heavily involved in drug trafficking,” says American activist Karen Spring of the Honduras Solidarity Network to AFP.

“All state institutions are heavily penetrated by drug trafficking, particularly the police and the military,” she asserts.

Extradited in April 2022, three months after leaving office, the former president will follow in the footsteps of his brother Tony Hernández and Geovanny Fuentes, a close associate of his brother, who are serving life sentences in the United States, as well as Fabio Lobo, son of former President Porfirio Lobo (2010-2014), and lawmaker Fredy Renán Nájera, all convicted of drug trafficking.

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International

Trump Says Iran Is Welcome at 2026 World Cup but Warns of Security Concerns

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said Thursday that the national football team of Iran is “welcome” to participate in the 2026 World Cup, although he suggested it might be safer for the team not to take part in the tournament.

“The Iranian national soccer team is welcome at the World Cup, but I really don’t think it’s appropriate for them to be there, for their own safety,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

His comments came a day after Iran’s sports minister, Ahman Donyamali, said that there are currently no conditions for the country to participate in the tournament following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, during a military offensive launched on February 28 by Israel and the United States.

“After the corrupt government killed our leader, there are no conditions that allow us to take part in the World Cup,” the Iranian official said. He added that the country has faced two wars in the past eight or nine months, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths, making participation in the tournament unlikely.

On Tuesday, the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, met with Trump at the White House.

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Following the meeting, Infantino said that Trump reiterated that Iran’s national team would be allowed to compete in the FIFA World Cup 2026.

“We discussed the current situation in Iran and the fact that the Iranian team has qualified to participate in the FIFA World Cup 2026. During the conversation, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States,” Infantino wrote on Instagram.

Central America

UN Rapporteur Warns of “Deep Crisis” in Guatemala’s Judicial System

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Margaret Satterthwaite, said Monday that Guatemala’s judicial system is facing a “deep crisis” after evaluating the country’s institutional situation.

Speaking at a press conference in Guatemala City, the UN official explained that several factors have weakened judicial independence and placed the justice system in a “critical” situation.

Among the main problems identified were the “instrumentalization of justice,” concentration of power, and persecution of judicial officials, elements that, according to Satterthwaite, undermine the functioning of the rule of law in the country.

Satterthwaite presented these conclusions while releasing her final report on the visit she carried out in May 2025, when she spent 12 days in Guatemala assessing the performance of the judicial system.

During her stay, she met with judges, prosecutors, public defenders, lawyers, lawmakers, civil society organizations, and representatives of Indigenous communities, as well as officials from the executive, judicial, and legislative branches. These meetings took place in Guatemala City and in the departments of Quetzaltenango and Alta Verapaz.

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The rapporteur also reiterated her concern about the role of the Public Ministry of Guatemala, noting that the information collected points to the existence of a policy of criminalization against justice operators.

Despite this scenario, Satterthwaite expressed confidence that Guatemala can reverse the situation, highlighting that the country’s Constitution has previously demonstrated the ability to guarantee respect for the rule of law.

She also stressed that key appointments expected in the coming months will be decisive for the future of the judicial system, including the selection of a new Constitutional Court of Guatemala, a new Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Guatemala, and a new attorney general to replace the current head of the Public Ministry, Consuelo Porras.

“The appointments scheduled for 2026 to the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, and the Public Ministry will be decisive in determining whether the current patterns of institutional capture and impunity will be consolidated or reversed,” the rapporteur concluded.

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Central America

UN Report Warns of Nicaragua’s “Transnational” Surveillance Network Targeting Dissidents

A special panel of the United Nations accused the government of Nicaragua on Tuesday of diverting public funds to finance the repression of political opposition both inside and outside the country, including through what it described as a “transnational network” of surveillance and intelligence.

The panel presented a new report to the press on the situation in the Central American nation, which has been governed since 2007 by President Daniel Ortega and his wife and vice president Rosario Murillo.

Based on dozens of interviews and extensive documentary evidence, the report states that since 2018—the year when student protests erupted and were violently suppressed—public funds have been diverted to support repression, including money originally allocated for social assistance programs and public sanitation projects.

According to the report, a “parallel structure” was created within the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front to channel resources toward security operations, pro-government armed groups, and party activities.

The investigation was carried out at the request of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

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Another key finding of the report concerns the existence of a surveillance and intelligence network that extends far beyond Nicaragua’s borders, allegedly used to monitor, intimidate, and target hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans living abroad.

The report documents an intelligence structure involving the military, police, migration authorities, the telecommunications regulator TELCOR, diplomatic missions, and operators linked to the FSLN.