WASHINGTON:Washington last year added then-Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez to a blacklist barring entry to the United States due to corrupt or anti-democratic actions, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday as the listing was declassified after Hernandez left office.
In a statement, Blinken cited credible reports that Hernandez “has engaged in significant corruption by committing or facilitating acts of corruption and narco-trafficking, and using the proceeds of illicit activity to facilitate political campaigns.”
The former Honduran president was also named in sworn testimony in a U.S. federal criminal proceeding as having received proceeds of drug trafficking as part of his campaign funding, Blinken said.
The State Department included Hernandez on the Corrupt and Undemocratic Actors List effective July 1, 2021, but was now declassifying and publicizing the move, Blinken said. Hernandez left office last month.
Inclusion on the list “generally makes the listed individuals ineligible for visas and admission to the United States,” he said.
Hernandez has repeatedly denied the allegations. Last year, his brother was sentenced by a U.S. judge to life in prison plus 30 years for drug trafficking.
Hernandez’s eight-year rule ended on Jan. 27, when Honduras swore in President Xiomara Castro, the first woman elected to that office.
Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to the Central American nation for Castro’s inauguration https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-hopes-buoy-honduras-president-elect-castro-with-harris-visit-2022-01-27, a sign of Washington’s desire to boost a leader whose assumption of power had been clouded by political turmoil.
U.S. officials want to work with Castro to curb illegal immigration from Central America and shore up international support for Taiwan. Honduras is one of the few countries in the world maintaining diplomatic ties with Taipei.
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