MaddowBlog-After Venezuela operation, Trump haunted by his pardon for Honduran drug trafficker
Two Latin American strongmen were charged with drug trafficking. One was captured as part of a military raid, the other is free thanks to a Trump pardon.
Someday, this guy is going to hear about Trump’s pardon for former Honduras' Juan Orlando Hernández — a convicted drug trafficker who boasted that he would “stuff the drugs up the gringos’ noses†and accepted a million bribe to allow cocaine shipments to pass through his country — and be amazed.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-01-03T21:51:49.615Z
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/after-venezuela-operation-trump-haunted-by-his-pardon-for-honduran-drug-trafficker
Two Latin American strongmen were charged in Manhattan with corrupting their governments, using state power to import hundreds of tons of cocaine into the United States.
One, the former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, was abruptly pardoned by President Trump last month. The other, President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, was captured on Saturday in a military raid.
.....That might be easier to take seriously if Trump hadn’t just pardoned the head of a Latin American country who was convicted of drug trafficking.
Trump, despite all of his “tough on crime” chest-thumping, thought it’d be a good idea to pardon a notorious drug trafficker, who was convicted last year and sentenced to 45 years in prison. Even by 2025 standards, the developments were breathtaking: As a separate New York Times analysis summarized, Hernández “orchestrated a vast trafficking conspiracy” that benefited drug cartels, even as Honduras grew poorer, more violent and more corrupt.
Hernández also boasted that he would “stuff the drugs up the gringos’ noses” and accepted a $1 million bribe to allow cocaine shipments to pass through his country, all while trafficking more than 500 tons of cocaine into the U.S.....
With this in mind, a reporter asked the American president a good question on Saturday morning: Would Trump consider pardoning Maduro?
Q: "You recently pardoned the former president of Honduras who was convicted of drug trafficking…Would you ever pardon Maduro?"
— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2026-01-03T17:51:30.288Z
Trump: "The reason that was done is because of the fact that the party in felt very strongly that that man was being treated very badly…"
The Republican didn’t answer the question directly, though he clung to his baseless idea that the Biden administration had been too mean to the convicted drug trafficker.....
As the case against Maduro advances, however, it’s a safe bet that the question will linger for quite a while.
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Last edited Mon Jan 5, 2026, 05:59 PM - Edit history (1)
