Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández (2014-2022), released last week in the United States after receiving a pardon from President Donald Trump, now faces an international arrest warrant, Honduran Attorney General Johel Antonio Zelaya Álvarez announced.
The Honduran Attorney General’s Office accuses him of money laundering and fraud in connection with the Pandora Case, a corruption scheme that diverted public funds to political campaigns between 2010 and 2013.
“We have been ravaged by the tentacles of corruption and by criminal networks that have profoundly marked the life of our country,” Attorney General Zelaya stated in a message posted on social media. The Attorney General instructed the Technical Agency for Criminal Investigation (ATIC) and urged Interpol to execute the warrant. The official document orders the “immediate arrest” of the former president if he sets foot on Honduran soil. The announcement came on International Anti-Corruption Day, reinforcing the symbolic nature of the decision.
The arrest warrant was also issued amid an ongoing election recount in Honduras: conservative presidential candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura, backed by Trump, maintains a slight lead over liberal candidate Salvador Nasralla, while the ruling Libre party is demanding the annulment of the elections.
