In Honduras, a brother of the current president Juan Orlando Hernandez, has been caught running a “state sponsored drug trafficking conspiracy” with Hondorus’s current leader. The US federal prosecutors stated their opinions on the matter in documents they released prior to the trial taking place in the next few weeks. The US prosecutors are asking for Hernandez’s brother to serve life in prison for his actions. Juan Antonio Hernandez, is a former congressman in Honduras, and was convicted for running a drug trafficking operation to traffic cocaine into the US. During the investigation it was also discovered that they were using machine guns as well. In the documents released before his trial in New York, prosecutors laid out Antonio Hernandez’s criminal record and pointed out where ir overlapped with the former head of congress, and current President Juan Orlando Hernandez. The United States government wants Antonio to give upwards of 138.5 million dollars in “blood money” as well as an additional 10 million dollars as a fine.
I think that this is absolutely horrible. I feel for the people of Honduras because as it is, it is one of if not the absolute most dangerous place in the world to live. Drug trafficing, murder, and gang violence all contribute to the economic harships it faces as well the overall lack of sustainability from the government is disheartening for the citizens trying to get by. Therefore, for a person to be higher up in the government, who has a lot of influence and power to be doing such awful acts just goes to show what the people running the country are really doing. It is also worrisome for the Hondurian citizens that their President was somehow involved, a person who should be spending his time and energy on what’s best for his country, not smuggling cocaine into the states.
From an international relations standpoint this is very telling of how things are being done in Honduras. If the federal government of Honduras ever wants to make some sort of economic advancements and begin an upward trend towards a good economy they need new people running the country. Honduras needs to begin finding countries that will be allies with them to boost the economy, and if a drug trafficking family of corrupt leaders are running the country, that probably won’t happen.