Why Does Ex-Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández Link Kamala Harris to His U.S. Narco Indictment?

TL;DR

Juan Orlando Hernández alleges that his U.S. narco indictment was politically coordinated because it was issued on the same day Kamala Harris met Honduran President Xiomara Castro at her inauguration. He also cites a 2013 video involving Carlos Zelaya and traffickers, plus testimony that he says lacked calls, videos, audio, or documents tying him to trafficking. Read on for his specific claims about the indictment, trial evidence, and alleged political connections.

Transcript

But then that's the reason because the former vice president Kamala Harris went to the inauguration of the lady president Somar Castro and the same day at the same time that they were having a meeting the the vice president Harris and and the president Castro was the time in which they were putting my indictment over here. You see how synchronized ... Read More

Key Insights

• Juan Orlando Hernández argues his U.S. indictment was politically timed, claiming it was issued the same day Kamala Harris met Honduran President Xiomara Castro at her inauguration, which he presents not as speculation but as coordinated action.
• The alleged Honduras-Venezuela link centers on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi's statement, made roughly three to four months before the interview, that the Honduran government was receiving money to allow drugs from Venezuela to pass through Mexico.
• Hernández says he confronted the Venezuelan ambassador during his first term over drug flights into Honduras and Venezuelan repression claims, and gave the ambassador 15 days to secure help or leave the country after asking three times.
• A video released in September 2024 by InSight Crime, recorded in 2013, purportedly shows Carlos Zelaya, brother of the current first gentleman, meeting Los Cachiros drug trafficking leaders, discussing more than $525,000 in bribes.
• Hernández claims the exculpatory 2013 video was not allowed in his trial because he lacked time to review it, and only examined it clearly afterward, describing it as showing narcos backing the leftist party to remove extradition laws.
• The narcos in the alleged video reportedly saw electing the leftist party as their only chance to eliminate the extradition and other laws Hernández created as speaker about three weeks before the election, offering roughly $650,000 in support.
• Hernández says the key witness against him admitted having no evidence, no calls, no video, no audio, and no documents tying him personally to trafficking, yet the witness possessed many videos of other people.
• Hernández notes that for three years of DEA discussions, witnesses named many Honduran politicians but never mentioned him, only implicating him later as what he calls their 'get out of jail free card' after he had just won an election.

Questions & Answers

Q: Why does Juan Orlando Hernández link Kamala Harris to his U.S. narco indictment?

Hernández says his indictment was issued on the exact day Kamala Harris met President Xiomara Castro at Castro’s inauguration. He describes the timing as synchronized and argues that it reflected support for Castro in exchange for action against him, while presenting this as his allegation rather than speculation.

Q: What connection does Hernández allege between Honduras and Venezuela’s drug routes?

Hernández alleges that the political left in Honduras was closely connected to the left in Venezuela. He cites a statement attributed to Attorney General Pam Bondi, made three or four months earlier, claiming that the Honduran government received money to allow drugs from Venezuela to pass through Mexico.

Q: How does Hernández say he responded to drug flights from Venezuela?

Hernández says he showed the Venezuelan ambassador maps of flights traveling from Venezuela to Honduras and requested help stopping them. After asking three times, he gave the ambassador 15 days to obtain an answer from his government or leave Honduras.

Q: What anti-drug measures does Hernández say his government created?

Hernández says his government created maritime, aerial, and land shields to stop drugs from crossing Honduran territory. He also says Colombia was helping his government address the flights coming from Venezuela.

Q: What does the 2013 video allegedly show about Carlos Zelaya and traffickers?

Hernández says the video shows Carlos Zelaya, the president’s brother-in-law, meeting leading Honduran traffickers and discussing political support. According to Hernández, the traffickers believed a leftist victory could eliminate extradition and other laws, and the discussion included about $650,000 and additional help for the election.

Q: Why does Hernández call the 2013 video exculpatory?

Hernández argues that the video supports his claim that traffickers backed the leftist party because they wanted him to lose and hoped his laws would be removed. He says he could not review the video properly during his trial and was not allowed to use it there.

Q: What does Hernández say was missing from the evidence against him?

Hernández says a witness accusing him admitted having no evidence directly connecting him to trafficking. According to Hernández, the witness had no call records, video, audio, or documents involving him, despite possessing many videos of other people.

Q: Why does Hernández say traffickers implicated him only later?

Hernández says traffickers gave the DEA many names of Honduran politicians and public officials but did not mention him during three years of discussions. He argues that they accused him later because his name became their “jail free card,” while the witness said he left Honduras out of fear of extradition and incarceration.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Juan Orlando Hernández, former President of Honduras, tells Patrick Bet-David that his U.S. indictment coincided exactly with Kamala Harris meeting new Honduran President Xiomara Castro at her inauguration, which he presents as proof of political coordination timed to back Castro against him.

• He alleges close ties between Honduras' leftist party and Venezuela's left, citing Attorney General Pam Bondi's claim that Honduras received money to let Venezuelan drugs pass through Mexico, and recounts confronting the Venezuelan ambassador over drug flights and giving him 15 days to help or leave.

• Hernández points to a 2013 video, released by InSight Crime in September 2024, purportedly showing Carlos Zelaya meeting Los Cachiros traffickers discussing over $525,000 in bribes. He says this exculpatory evidence was barred from his trial, and that witnesses lacked direct proof against him.