A Honduran judge on Sept. 1, 2026, dismissed a sprawling money-laundering and fraud case against the country’s former president, Juan Orlando Hernández. It was the latest stroke of good fortune for Hernández.

Hernández returned home in late July after an eventful four years outside Honduras. He was extradited to the United States in 2022 following a multiyear, nonpartisan U.S. investigation. In 2024 he was convicted of cocaine trafficking and related charges and sentenced to 45 years behind bars in the U.S. Yet after serving only 18 months of his sentence, Hernández was pardoned by President Donald Trump.

Hernández remains a forceful power broker behind the scenes of the current Honduran government, led by President Nasry Asfura of the right-wing National Party.

Yet as a scholar of Latin American politics, I believe Hernández’s return to Honduras, and his successes evading legal accountability, are emblematic of something broader than impunity for elites: His case demonstrates the struggle for sovereignty in a country facing a renewed form of U.S. intervention.

Politics under the shadow of US intervention

Hernández’s return to Honduras on July 26 was symbolic. He landed at Palmerola International Airport, which shares its runway with the Soto Cano Air Base, a longtime staging ground of U.S. interventions in Honduras.

While Hernández was greeted by National Party supporters, for many Hondurans his pardon and return to the country were seen to undermine hopes for justice and adversely affect the political process.

When Trump first announced plans to pardon Hernández, it was on the eve of the Honduran elections in November 2025. In another sign of meddling from Washington, Trump endorsed Asfura and threatened to cut off aid to Honduras if Asfura, who was trailing in opinion polls leading up to the elections, did not win.

On Dec. 1, the day after the election and with Asfura and center-right politician Salvador Nasralla locked in a technical tie as vote counting continued, Trump issued a full pardon for Hernández. U.S. officials then hurried to provide special immigration protections for Hernández, and a specialized tactical team drove him from a West Virginia prison to the luxury Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan.

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