US Drug War Kills Honduran Civilians, Talks with Elite Suspects

[Judi Lynn]

US Drug War Kills Honduran Civilians, Talks with Elite Suspects
Published 26 October 2016 (10 hours 46 minutes ago)



The DEA had a hand in massacring four Honduran civilians in 2012. Now, the president's cartel-linked brother is allowed to "dialogue" with authorities.

Laying bare once again the hypocrisy of the U.S. “war on drugs” in Central America and Washington’s cozy relationship with Honduras despite its dismal human rights record, President Juan Orlando Hernandez’s brother, targeted in a major U.S. drug trafficking investigation, traveled to Miami and back again on Tuesday to “dialogue” with authorities.

Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernandez, a member of his brother’s right-wing National Party and member of Congress, has been flagged as a “person of interest” in a narco-trafficking case spearheaded by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in the Central American country.

In recent weeks, the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa released a list of suspects in the investigation, including the kingpin of the Atlantic cartel, Wilter Blanco, and several other individuals — including military officials — linked to corruption and Blanco’s drug network, said to be the largest and most powerful in the country. Tony Hernandez’s name has not been publicly released on those official lists. But army Captain Santos Rodriguez Orellana, one of the suspects under scrutiny, told local media that DEA agents had pressed him for information at Hernandez’s alleged involvement. A U.S. Embassy official reportedly confirmed to InSight Crime that Hernandez is a “person of interest” in the case.

More:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/US-Drug-War-Kills-Honduran-Civilians-Talks-with-Elite-Suspects-20161026-0012.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. You might recall the last Honduran President Sosa's son also pled guilty for drug charges in the US.

Fmr Honduras President’s Son Pleads Guilty to US Drug Charges

Written by Mike LaSusa Tuesday, 17 May 2016

The son of former Honduras president Porfirio Lobo Sosa has pleaded guilty to federal drug charges in the United States, a move that could signal his willingness to provide information to US authorities in exchange for legal benefits.

The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced on May 16 that Fabio Porfirio Lobo had admitted to conspiring to import more than five kilograms of cocaine into the United States.

The indictment of Fabio Lobo alleges that the drug trafficking conspiracy lasted from approximately 2009 to July 2014. Fabio’s father Porfirio served as president of Honduras from January 2010 to January 2014.

According to a press release from the US Attorney’s Office, Fabio agreed in 2014 to assist two confidential sources posing as Mexican drug traffickers with transporting cocaine destined for the United States through Honduras.

More:
http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/fmr-honduras-president-son-pleads-guilty-to-us-drug-charges