00:00He was sentenced to 45 years in prison for his role in trafficking nearly 400 tons of cocaine into the US.
00:08But records show Juan Orlando Hernandez was released on Monday after being pardoned by President Donald Trump.
00:15President of Honduras from 2014 to 2022, Hernandez was found guilty last year.
00:22During his trial, New York prosecutors accused him of running Honduras like a narco state
00:27in protecting major cocaine traffickers using bribes, including one from famous Mexican drug lord El Chapo.
00:34Trump's pardon has observers baffled, considering Washington is simultaneously ordering the bombing of boats in the Caribbean that are allegedly carrying drugs.
00:43US military forces are also deployed off the Venezuelan coast to pressure the overthrowing of leader Nicolas Maduro, who Trump deems a narco-terrorist.
00:53The contradiction in Trump's narco-trafficking crackdown has been highlighted by both Democrats.
00:58Trump is illegally blowing up boats in the Caribbean, supposedly to stop drugs coming into the US.
01:04Yet he pardons the former president of Honduras, who was convicted of sending cocaine to the US.
01:10It doesn't make any sense.
01:12And Republicans alike.
01:14Why would we pardon this guy and then go after Maduro for running drugs into the United States?
01:19Lock up every drug runner.
01:20Don't understand why he's being pardoned.
01:23Trump has framed Hernandez's case as a set-up by the Biden administration.
01:27He's also deeply involved in the Honduran election, where two right-wing candidates are neck and neck in the presidential race.
01:34Trump is backing Nasri Afua from the same party as Hernandez.
01:39And he warned Tuesday there'd be hell to pay in funding cuts if his candidate lost.
01:44Something the ruling left-wing candidate calls interventionist meddling.
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