Former Honduras president Hernandez returns home after Trump pardon

Honduran ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez returned to his country on Sunday, almost eight months after US President Donald Trump controversially pardoned his 45-year prison sentence for drug trafficking.

Hernandez arrived on a private flight at Palmerola Airport near the capital Tegucigalpa and was greeted by his family and supporters, Agence France-Presse journalists observed.

“We are very happy and very excited” to welcome him back, said Eva Amador, 56, a supporter of the former president, as she held a banner with a message thanking Trump.

Hernandez led the Central American nation from 2014 to 2022 but was extradited soon after leaving office by his left-leaning successor, Xiomara Castro, to face US drug trafficking charges.

A US court found him guilty in 2024 of having helped smuggle hundreds of tons of drugs into the United States and sentenced him to decades behind bars.