Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández (2014-2022) returned to Honduras this Sunday, July 26 to face judicial proceedings for fraud and money laundering, almost eight months after receiving a full pardon from US President Donald Trump, which overturned his 45-year sentence for drug trafficking.
Hernandez, 57, arrived at the Palmerola international airport, located about 75 kilometers north of Tegucigalpa, on a private flight from Miami (USA), around 8:30 local time.
The politician must face local justice for a case of alleged money laundering and fraud whose initial hearing for the accused’s statement is scheduled for August 3.
The former president He was greeted on the airstrip by his wife, lto former first lady Ana García; his mother, Elvira Alvarado, and three of his four children, with whom he starred in an emotional reunion after more than four years of separation since he was extradited, in April 2022, to the United States.
After getting off the plane, Hernández and his family They knelt a few meters from the track to say a prayer.
The former ruler He arrived accompanied by a small group of close friends, among them generals Willy Oseguera, Tulio Romero and Javier Barrientos, who testified on his behalf during the drug trafficking trial in New York, as well as his lawyer in the United States, Renato Stabile.
After completing the immigration process, Hernández left the air terminal heading to a nearby farm, where you will participate in a welcome and thanksgiving event organized by friends.
The agenda for his return also includes an event called by his family at 2:00 p.m. local time at the Toncontín airport, in Tegucigalpa, where his wife plans to return the wedding ring that Hernández gave her before being held in a Honduran prison, prior to his extradition.
The return of Hernandez has reignited political polarization in Honduras. While his followers assure that he will face justice to prove his innocence, opposition sectors question the pardon granted by Washington and demand that he answer before the Honduran courts.
Honduran authorities deployed an extensive security operation around the airport and on the main access roads, while dozens of national and international journalists and hundreds of supporters gathered at the air terminal to follow his arrival, with slogans of support and flags of the National Party, to which Hernández belongs.
The former president announced his return at the beginning of July, after a judge provisionally suspended the arrest warrant against him and the international red alert, after accepting a request for voluntary presentation presented by his defense.