NewsClick

NewsClick
  • हिन्दी
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Covid-19
  • Science
  • Culture
  • India
  • International
  • Sports
  • Articles
  • Videos
search
menu

INTERACTIVE ELECTION MAPS

image/svg+xml
  • All Articles
  • Newsclick Articles
  • All Videos
  • Newsclick Videos
  • हिन्दी
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Science
  • Culture
  • India
  • Sports
  • International
  • Africa
  • Latin America
  • Palestine
  • Nepal
  • Pakistan
  • Sri Lanka
  • US
  • West Asia
About us
Subscribe
Follow us Facebook - Newsclick Twitter - Newsclick RSS - Newsclick
close menu
×
For latest updates on nCOVID-19 around the world visit our INTERACTIVE COVID MAP
Protests & Movements
Politics
International

Hondurans Intensify Protests Demanding JOH’s Resignation after Report Links Him to Drug Trafficking

Massive protests erupted after Univision released a report alleging that president Juan Orlando Hernández’s 2013 election campaign received $1.5 million from drug trafficking proceeds
Zoe PC
10 Aug 2019
Protesters in Honduras mobilize to demand Juan Orlando Hernández resign amid drug trafficking accusations.

On August 3, the media network Univision published a report which implicates Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH) in a conspiracy to use drug trafficking to “maintain and increase his political power”. The report cites a document published by a federal court in New York on August 2 related to the upcoming trial of JOH’s brother Antonio “Tony” Hernández who was arrested in Miami in November 2018 for drug trafficking and other charges.

The 44-page document summarizes some of the key evidence gathered by the prosecutors against Tony, who is accused of being “a violent drug-trafficker” who used political connections to gain personal and political benefits. The document also mentions that Tony may have planned the assassination of rival drug traffickers.

Federal prosecutor Geoffrey S. Berman alleged that Tony Hernández became involved with drug traffickers as early as 2004 and used the influence of his family in the region to ensure safe crossings for traffickers in exchange for bribes. It details his relationships with different cartels from then on and how these connections were used for his benefit and that of his family, as well as for his party’s political aspirations.

The document does not refer by name to Juan Orlando Hernández but mentions Co-conspirator 4, (CC-4) who is described as the Honduran president elected in 2013 (JOH was first elected president in 2013). The document has extensive information from Cooperating Witness-3, (CW-3), who appears to be Alexander Ardón, the former mayor of El Paraíso, Honduras, who was charged with “Crimes Relating to Large-Scale Drug Trafficking” by a New York Federal Court and was extradited to the US.

The document states that Ardón, CW-3, was instructed to pay bribes to support JOH’s election campaign and “spent approximately $1.5 million in drug proceeds to support CC-4’s presidential campaign, including by paying cash bribes to other officials and providing gifts and favors to local politicians.”

JOH and his far-right National Party completely denied the accusations. JOH claims that he is the victim of a conspiracy and has attempted to position himself as a key player in the war on drugs by showcasing the arrests, convictions, and extraditions of people involved in drug cartels and the drug trade during his years in office.

Video showcasing JOH’s ‘tough stand’ against drug trafficking.

The minister of the presidency, Ebal Díaz, claimed that drug traffickers in Honduras are actually working with the radical opposition to “take out the biggest enemy to organized crime that is Juan Orlando Hernández”. Díaz also claimed that there is evidence which links opposition leader and presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla with the maras and gangs.

Out with JOH, Narco-dictator!

The revelation gave new energy and life to the movement calling for the resignation of JOH. While many in Honduras have long suspected JOH’s involvement with drug traffickers and narco-politics, especially after Tony Hernández’s arrest, the report provides the confirmation. On May 29, another document related to Tony Hernández’s trial revealed that JOH, his sister Hilda Hernández and other high-level functionaries were under investigation by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) of the US as early as in 2013.

Massive demonstrations have been held across Honduras in the week since the report was released and protesters are demanding that JOH, the ‘narco-dictator’ or ‘CC-4’ resign and be tried for his involvement with criminal activities. The Libre Party called on their members and sympathizers to mobilize and the Platform for the Defense of Health and Education has also joined the call for mobilizations.

The protests have been met with a violent crackdown by Honduran security forces. On Tuesday night, riot police repressed students in San Pedro Sula at the National Autonomous University and threw tear gas at them for over an hour. Radio Progreso reportede that at 9 pm, the police threw two tear gas bombs at a university bus, causing several students to faint and two had to be taken to the emergency room.

 

On August 8, Adrienne Pine, a US journalist from Mint Press News was attacked by Honduran police forces while covering the protests and police repression of students at the National Autonomous University of Honduras in the capital Tegucigalpa.

On Wednesday, August 7, communicators from the northern city of San Pedro Sula held a rally to denounce the police repression that journalists and communicators have been facing while covering the protests.

comunicadores-planton.jpg

Communicators in San Pedro Sula mobilize against police repression on Wednesday August 7. Photo: NotiBomba

Supporters of JOH’s far-right National Party have also been mobilizing in order to show their support for him.

Despite heavy repression, the mobilizations demanding JOH’s resignation continue. Since JOH was fraudulently ‘re-elected’ in November 2017, social unrest in Honduras has been constant. Following the electoral fraud, highways all over the country were blocked for weeks by protesters and multitudinous mobilizations were carried out in the major cities. Since then, there have been several recurring waves of mobilization sparked by different aspects of JOH’s neoliberal, repressive policies.

The latest was in May and June where hundreds of thousands mobilized across Honduras against measures that would further privatize the public health and education sectors in the country. Doctors, teachers, students, nurses, other health and education workers, as well as the general population, mobilized for weeks against the measures with the demand that the government address the glaring crisis in these sectors. The mobilizations channelized the widespread anger and misery felt by many sections of the working class in Honduras that have seen their quality of life deteriorate in the last decade.

Get the latest reports & analysis with people's perspective on Protests, movements & deep analytical videos, discussions of the current affairs in your Telegram app. Subscribe to NewsClick's Telegram channel & get Real-Time updates on stories, as they get published on our website.
Antonio
CC-4
DEA
Drug trafficking
Fuera JOH
Juan Orlando Hernández
National Party of Honduras
Salvador Nasralla
Univision
Related Stories
The government of Jair Bolsonaro has been severely criticized for its flawed handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, an image of Bolsonaro failing to put on a mask properly is screened on a building as a mark of protest. Photo: Brasil De Fato

How Latin America and the Caribbean are Dealing With COVID-19

Honduran migrant caravan walking towards US

A New Honduran Migrant Caravan Leaves for the US

Mauricio Macri

Around the World in 8 Minutes: Episode 44

COPINH mobilizing against the coup in 2009.

“The Coup d’état was a Moment of Awakening For the Social Movements in Honduras”

Honduras: 10 Years of Resistance

Honduras: 10 Years of Resistance Against Right-Wing Coup

Photo from one of the road blockades in Tegucigalpa, the banner reads: "This is the moment, OUT JOH"

Hondurans Intensify Protests, Demand Resignation of President

Honduras Healthcare and Education

In Honduras, #FueraJOH Becomes a National War Cry

around the world in 8 minutes

Around the World in 8 Minutes: Episode 29 | International News on Working Class & Popular Struggles

Honduras Protest Against Privatisation

Struggle Against Privatisation in Honduras Renews Rebellion Against Government

Jesús Santrich, free at last

Jesús Santrich, free at last

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsAppShare via EmailShare on RedditShare on KindlePrint
Share
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsAppShare via EmailShare on RedditShare on KindlePrint
Share

Related Stories

Peoples Dispatch

Guatemalan Security Forces Repress Honduran Migrant Caravan Heading Towards the US

19 January 2021
Guatemalan military and police forces, on January 17, repressed the caravan of thousands of Honduran migrants and prevented them from moving forwar
Ravi Nair, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta

Adani’s Plans to Privatise Airports May Go Awry

23 June 2020
New Delhi: After signing a binding concession agreement on February 14, 2019, to take over the operations of the international airports at Mangalur
Vijay Prashad, Paola Estrada, Ana Maldonado, Zoe PC

Colombia’s Government Acts Like a Doormat for the United States—and Its People Aren’t Going Along With It

11 April 2020
Last year, on November 21, the Colombian people took to the streets in massive numbers to reject the policies of the government led by President Iv

Pagination

  • Next page ››

More

  • ‘Drop Arrest Warrant against Paranjoy Guha Thakurta’: Demands Committee to Protect Journalists

    ‘Drop Arrest Warrant against Paranjoy Guha Thakurta’: Demands Committee to Protect Journalists

  • West Bengal: 3-day-long Farmers’ Dharna in Kolkata Concludes with Resolve to Continue Protesting Until All Demands Are Met

    West Bengal: 3-day-long Farmers’ Dharna in Kolkata Concludes with Resolve to Continue Protesting Until All Demands Are Met

  • donald Trump

    Trump Impeachment Trial in US Senate to Begin on Feb 8

  • Delhi Violence: Media Shouldn’t Destroy ‘Presumption of Innocence’ of Undertrial, Says Court

    Delhi Violence: Media Shouldn’t Destroy ‘Presumption of Innocence’ of Undertrial, Says Court

  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with
about