Honduras still has a long way to go to dismantle the “narco-state” that developed under ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez (2014-2022), convicted Wednesday in New York of helping to ship hundreds of tons of cocaine in the United States, experts consulted by AFP agree.
Mr. Hernandez, 55, sentenced to 45 years in prison for international drug trafficking, participated in a network that shipped approximately 400 tons of cocaine to the United States between 2004 and 2022, and protected it, during his various mandates as deputy, president of the unicameral parliament, then president of the Republic.
In return, he allegedly received millions of dollars from cartels, including the Sinaloa cartel, led by the famous Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman, who has since been convicted in the United States.
Extradited in April 2022 upon the election of the new left-wing president Xiomara Camara, Honduras is still picking up the pieces.
“It is impossible to eliminate in two years the narco-state that Juan Orlando Hernandez built,” Mike Vigil, a former agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the American anti-drug agency, told AFP.
Honduras’ first female president, Xiomara Castro, who has promised to tackle drug trafficking, corruption and poverty, inherited a country where police, soldiers, judges, elected officials and businessmen all had, and some still have, ties to drug trafficking networks.
“The world of drugs has placed its pawns in the state apparatus,” summarizes Reina Rivera, a lawyer specializing in human rights, for AFP. For the Minister of Security, Gustavo Sanchez, with the arrest of Mr. Hernandez “the criminal structure has been decapitated” but “the body continues to function”.
– Infiltrated institutions –
Xiomara Castro “must govern with the structures with which Hernandez governed,” institutions infiltrated by the cartels, said sociologist Pablo Carias. And according to him, rumors continue to circulate about high-ranking officials involved in illicit activities.
Former DEA agent Vigil says cocaine trafficking from Colombia through Honduras is still thriving. But the country is no longer just a transit point, and coca crops have flourished in the Honduran mountains since 2017. Labs are now producing the drug on site.
The transformation of coca paste into cocaine is managed by Honduran gangs who collaborate with the famous Mexican cartels of Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generacion, supported by Mr. Vigil.
– Reconstruction of the State
One of the first measures taken by Ms. Castro upon taking office was to repeal the so-called “Secrets Law”, which classified documents relating to Public Security and Defense and which, according to her detractors, had been used to cover up acts of corruption.
She unveiled a series of measures to combat drug trafficking, offering rewards and ordering the capture of people wanted by the United States. Since then, 17 criminals have been extradited.
“She tried to rebuild the state apparatus with allies who cannot be accused of having links to the cartels,” says Rivera. But “many police chiefs are still there,” serving the cartels, she warns.
Despite Xioamara Castro’s efforts, Human Rights Watch (HRW) pointed out in its 2024 world report that she had “largely failed to deliver on her promise to strengthen human rights and democratic institutions in Honduras.”
The country’s troubles with drug traffickers come in a context where poverty affects nearly 80% of the population and the homicide rate is one of the highest in Latin America.
For HRW, “Honduras continues to face systemic corruption and political interference in the judicial system.”
