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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 530 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 530
Condemning the pardon of ex-Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 4, 2025
Mr. Welch (for himself, Mr. Kaine, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms.
Duckworth, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Wyden,
Mr. Fetterman, and Mrs. Shaheen) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning the pardon of ex-Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez.
Whereas, according to court documents, from at least 2004 up to and including
2022, Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former president of the Honduran
National Congress and former two-term President of Honduras, was at the
center of one of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking
conspiracies in the world;
Whereas, during his political career, President Hernandez abused his positions
and authority in Honduras to facilitate the importation of over 400 tons
of cocaine into the United States, enough for approximately
4,500,000,000 individual doses;
Whereas President Hernandez's co-conspirators were armed with machine guns and
other weapons, including AK-47s, AR-15s, and grenade launchers, which
they used to protect their cocaine shipments as they transited across
Honduras on route to the United States, protect the money they made from
the sale of the cocaine, and guard their drug-trafficking territory from
rivals;
Whereas President Hernandez and his co-conspirators abused Honduran
institutions, including the Honduran National Police and the Honduran
military, to protect and grow their conspiracy, using heavily armed
Honduran National Police officers to protect their cocaine shipments as
they transited across Honduras;
Whereas President Hernandez received millions of dollars of drug money from some
of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking organizations in
Honduras, Mexico, and elsewhere, and used those bribes to fuel his rise
in Honduran politics, including a $1,000,000 bribe from El Chapo, one of
the world's most notorious drug kingpins;
Whereas, as President Hernandez rose to power in Honduras, he provided increased
support and protection for his co-conspirators, allowing them to move
tons of cocaine, commit acts of violence and murder, and turn Honduras
into one of the most dangerous countries in the world;
Whereas, during his time in office, President Hernandez protected and enriched
the drug traffickers in his inner circle and those who provided him with
cocaine-fueled bribes that allowed him to obtain and stay in power;
Whereas President Hernandez selectively supported and took credit for
extraditions to the United States of certain drug traffickers who
threatened his grip on power, while at the same time promising drug
traffickers who bribed him and followed his instructions that they would
remain safe in Honduras;
Whereas the threat of being extradited to the United States made drug
traffickers eager to bribe anyone who could protect them, and according
to Federal prosecutors, they came to know they could rely on President
Hernandez;
Whereas President Hernandez directed the Honduran National Police and military
to protect smugglers who paid him off and he promised to shield them
from extradition to the United States, reportedly telling one cocaine
trafficker that ``by the time the gringos find out, we will have
eliminated extradition'';
Whereas President Hernandez reportedly boasted, ``We are going to stuff the
drugs up the gringos' noses, and they're never even going to know it.'';
Whereas several of President Hernandez's co-conspirators were convicted and
sentenced to prison in the United States, including President
Hernandez's brother, Juan Antonio Hernandez Alvarado, also known as
``Tony Hernandez'', who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison,
Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez, a violent cocaine trafficker who met with
President Hernandez multiple times to discuss their drug trafficking
partnership and who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, and
Juan Carlos Bonilla Valladares, also known as ``El Tigre'', the former
chief of the Honduran National Police, who pleaded guilty to his
participation in the cocaine importation conspiracy and was sentenced to
19 years in prison;
Whereas President Hernandez was convicted of drug trafficking and weapons
conspiracy after a jury trial that lasted nearly three weeks, and
sentenced to 45 years imprisonment and fined $8,000,000;
Whereas President Hernandez claimed that he was the victim of ``political
persecution'', but no credible evidence to support that claim has been
presented;
Whereas President Hernandez's conviction and sentence were upheld on appeal; and
Whereas President Donald J. Trump's pardon of Juan Orlando Hernandez is an
affront to the Federal law enforcement and judicial officials who
investigated and prosecuted him and to the jurors who performed their
civil duty in convicting him, weakens the rule of law, and severely
harms the credibility of the United States in combating drug trafficking
in this hemisphere and beyond: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) commends the Federal investigators, prosecutors, and
other United States law enforcement and judicial personnel for
their extraordinary efforts in investigating, apprehending, and
prosecuting President Juan Orlando Hernandez;
(2) commends the members of the New York jury for
faithfully and courageously weighing the evidence and finding
President Hernandez guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; and
(3) condemns the pardon of convicted cocaine kingpin Juan
Orlando Hernandez.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text: CR S8515)
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