Honduras ex-first lady says presidential bid not meant to protect herself

Former Honduras first lady Ana Garcia de Hernandez said Thursday that her decision to seek the presidency next year is about showing the world the injustice that was done to her recently convicted husband, not an attempt to protect herself from prosecution as some allege.
In an interview with The Associated Press in the same Tegucigalpa home where police arrested her husband Juan Orlando Hernandez in February 2022 on a United States extradition request, she maintained her husband’s innocence.
Garcia de Hernandez said that in conversations with Hernandez since his conviction in a Manhattan courtroom last Friday, he told her “this is another test and we are going to continue exhausting appeals; the world saw the injustice that was committed and we have to remain standing.”
Hernandez’s arrest came just three weeks after he left office and was followed by his extradition in April 2022. His two-week trial ended last week when he was convicted of charges that he conspired with drug traffickers and used Honduras’ military and police to help move tons of cocaine north to the United States.
Garcia de Hernandez announced Tuesday in a news conference that she would seek the nomination of the National party, her husband’s party and one of the main opposition parties. Honduras’ national elections are scheduled for Nov. 30, 2025.
Some politicians immediately suggested her bid for the presidency was an attempt to protect herself from prosecution. Garcia de Hernandez has not been charged with any crimes.
Hernandez’s brother, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison in the United States on drug and weapons charges in March 2021.
U.S. prosecutors called Hernandez’s presidency “state-sponsored drug trafficking,” despite parts of the U.S. government praising Hernandez over the years for his cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking.