U.S. Sends Request to Honduras for Arrest, Extradition of Former President

Honduras has received an official request from the United States for arrest and extradition of Honduras former president, Juan Orlando Hernandez, media reported, citing sources.

On Feb. 7, U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, announced that Hernandez had been included in a list of corrupt actors in 2021.

On Tuesday, the Honduras Foreign Ministry said on Twitter that it had notified the country’s Supreme Court that “the U.S. Embassy formally requested the arrest of a Honduran politician for the purposes of extradition’’.

According to CNN Espanol, the U.S. requested Hernandez’s extradition prompting the President of the Supreme Court of Honduras to urgently convene a plenary session to appoint a judge to adjudicate the matter.

Hernandez served as head of state of the Central American country from 2014 until January 2022.

In early February, the U.S. placed him on a black list for “having received narco-trafficking proceeds as part of his campaign funding’’.

Meanwhile, Honduras’s security forces have cordoned off the home of former President Hernandez after the U.S. requested his extradition on corruption charges, media said.

U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said last week that the 53-year-old had been blacklisted based on “credible” media reports that alleged his links to drug trafficking.

Security forces were seen standing guard on Monday night outside the embattled former president’s residence in Tegucigalpa, less than three weeks after his term ended, according to La Prensa daily.

The Honduran foreign ministry said it had sent the U.S. request for Hernandez’s extradition to the Supreme Court of Justice.

The court has reportedly scheduled an urgent meeting for Tuesday morning to pick a judge who will look into the request.