It’s March 8, 2024. Juan Orlando Hernández (former president of the Republic of Honduras from 2014 to 2022) is found guilty in a New York federal courtroom of participating in a scheme to ship cocaine to the United States. He is found to have financed election fraud and to have taken money from Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, a famous Mexican drug lord. He accepted millions of dollars in cartel bribes and shielded traffickers from the law. At the end of the trial, Hernández is sentenced to 45 years in prison.
On the 29th of November 2025, Donald Trump announced on Truth Social, his social media platform, the decision to pardon Hernández, and explicitly endorsed Nasry “Tito” Asfura in the electoral race for presidency of Honduras. All this just days before the start of the Honduran presidential election.
«Mr. President. Good afternoon. Greetings. I’m calling about my case — to see if you have any update, anything to share, on whether things have moved forward at the Supreme Court. I want to believe you won’t push me aside, because thanks to me you’re sitting in that chair. Mr. President, it’s going to be me. And I expect your support. Because that’s what we agreed with President Trump.»
- Juan Orlando Hernández in a voice note to Nasry Asfura, March 10 2026.
This is what Hernández says in a voice note to current Honduran president Nasry Asfura, one of the leaked audio recordings published by the news outlet Canal Red América Latina in collaboration with anonymous Honduran journalists. The investigation, based on several audios, has revealed that Trump’s pardon of Hernández plays a pivotal role in a US and Israeli plot to destabilize Latin American progressive governments and to turn Honduras into a strategic military, logistic, and economic enclave for the USA and Israeli interests in the region.
The leaked audios come from the three messaging giants: WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram. They can all be listened to on the Hondurasgate website, along with transcripts and proofs of their authenticity. I linked the audio recording after every quote in this article for transparency.
Internally, for Honduras, the audios reveal coordination between Hernández and the current administration to promise a new military base, the country’s development zones, and new laws to incentivize A.I. investment to the United States. But the plot also has a continental dimension to it. The USA and Israel coordinated the far-right of the continent to target and destabilize progressive democracies of Latin America, like Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia.
But let’s slow down and analyze this interventionist conspiracy step by step.
The Price of a Pardon: Israeli Money for a Honduran Presidency
The pardon of Hernández that Trump had teased in his Truth post officially came on December 1st. The pardon had a cost, and it was Israel who paid the bill. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu directly supported an extensive lobbying campaign to pardon Hernández sponsored by Roger Stone (Trump’s longtime adviser) and the Republican congressional group.
It is Hernández himself who tells us, through a leaked audio, who paid the price of his release:
«The Israeli prime minister is going to back us. We’re very grateful to him — they had a lot to do with it. In fact, they had everything to do with my release and the negotiation.»
- Juan Orlando Hernández in a voice note, January 20 2026.
But it was not only about the pardon. According to the plot’s plan, Hernández is set to return to Honduras and run again for presidency. His return to Honduras, the logistics of his political restoration, and his future electoral campaign are all to be financed entirely by Israeli actors.
As we have heard from the voice note sent by Hernández to the president of Honduras, Asfura’s presidency is envisioned as a transitional presidency in the plan crafted by Hernández and Donald Trump. During in his 2025 presidential campaign, Nasry “Tito” Asfura, from the same party as Hernández (the National Party, Partido Nacional de Honduras) insisted that he had “no connection” to the former and convicted president. But it is clear from the leaked audios that his presidency has the objective of clearing the path for Hernández to run again in the next election cycle and of repaying the USA and Israel for having pardoned Hernández.
« I want to believe you won’t push me aside, because thanks to me you’re sitting in that chair. Mr. President, it’s going to be me. And I expect your support. Because that’s what we agreed with President Trump.»
- Juan Orlando Hernández in a voice note to Nasry Asfura, March 10 2026
«Right, we’re ready. Four more years — we have to start saying it again. The people want President Juan Orlando. They need him in Honduras. There are hundreds, thousands, millions who want Juan Orlando back. So Mr. President, count on our support.»
- María Antonieta Mejía in a voice note to Juan Orlando Hernández, April 9th 2026
After his victory in the presidential campaign, Asfura travelled to Mar-A-Lago, Trump’s estate in Florida, where the negotiation for the price of the pardon took place between Trump and the president-elect of Honduras. Key elements of the deal are:
- Expansion of the Special Employment and Economic Development Zones (ZEDEs) in Honduras, also known as “charter cities” since they operate with autonomous courts and foreign legal systems on Honduran soil, condemned as a surrender of national sovereignty by several organizations.
- Construction of a new military base on the island of Roatán, in addition to the existing Soto Cano air base in Palmerola (operated by the US Southern Command since 1982).
- Signing of a free trade agreement.
- Passing laws to incentivize investment in A.I. technology in Honduras, contracts to be awarded directly to US private companies.
This deal is confirmed by a voice note sent by Asfura to Hernández on February 10th, 2026:
«Mr. President — good to hear from you. We”ve already had a private session with investor circles and they’re very upbeat about the ZEDE expansion in Roatán and in Comayagua. For Palmerola, we’re going to relocate another Palmerola, specifically there in Roatán, where Próspera is. A base — yeah, that’s already negotiated. The interoceanic project too. We’re handing it to General Electric.»
- Nasry Asfura in a voice note to Juan Orlando Hernández, February 10 2026.
In the same voice note, further on, an “Honduran CECOT” is also mentioned. CECOT refers to the Terrorism Detention Center: the maximum-security prison in El Salvador infamous for hosting the illegally deported immigrants after their capture and expulsion perpetrated by ICE in the USA.
«And the Honduran CECOT is also coming, inside Tegucigalpa. »
- Nasry Asfura in a voice note to Juan Orlando Hernández, February 10 2026.
Dismantling Democracy from Abroad: The Lawfare Blueprint
But why do Trump and Netanyahu want to see Hernández gain back his Honduran presidency? The plot runs deeper than just securing special economic and military deals with Honduras, the final objective is to purge Latin American democratic institutions. Honduras with Hernández would serve as the strategic center of this purge, as a control center of the campaign against progressive democracies in Latin America.
As a matter of fact, Hernández, who is yet to return to his country, has already started to move his pawns to dismantle Honduran democracy, all the way from the United States. We can listen to Hernández giving direct orders to Tomás Zambrano, speaker of the National Congress of Honduras (Congreso Nacional), urging him to stop coordinating with the president Asfura and to accelerate the process of waging political trials against those who denounced electoral irregularities in the last presidential election and those who have the power to keep alive the drug case against Hernández. Israeli funds being sent to Zambrano as payment for the operation were also mentioned.
Once the audio recordings leaked, the Speaker of Congress declared that they had merely acted in “strict adherence to the law”. While the removal of key officials was perpetrated through official and lawful judicial institutions, the whole operation was backed by pressure and threats. Commissioner Cossette López-Osorio (member of the National Party) talked about Marlon Ochoa (an advisor to the National Electoral Council) to president Asfura several times through audio notes, explaining how he was the “number one objective” and how she threatened him prior to his removal from congress.
“Listen, how are we going to move forward without having removed this bastard Marlon from his position? Nothing can be done, nothing can be moved, nothing can be touched, we can’t go anywhere without a clear position on the impeachment trial. Once the impeachment trial is over, we’ll leave. But if not, we’ll leave and give him free rein. But he’ll leave with the reward of being left alone here at the CNE. I don’t think that’s right. First: jail or death. I’m going to say it like this: jail or death.”
- Cossette López-Osorio in a voice note to Nasry Asfura, April 30 2026.
‘Generate Violence’: The Explicit Call for Blood
Verbal violence, like the threats against Marlon Ochoa, is not the only violence alluded to in the leaked audios. Former president Hernández ordered to the usual Tomás Zambrano to apply “any kind of violence” needed to keep the populace under control, something that was apparently a direct request of Trump.
«In Honduras you need force, you need logistics, you need blood. If you want the people under control, you have to crush them. Squeeze them. Counter the violence by generating violence. It’s what President Trump says — and you act as if he’s going to be there forever. How? I don’t know. But you act on that, and you listen to me. Don’t be soft, don’t let your heart get in the way. Don’t be soft. Otherwise you can’t do the job. That’s what Pablo Escobar said.»
- Juan Orlando Hernández in a voice note to Tomás Zambrano, March 18 2026.
«We are not letting go of power. Whatever has to be done, gets done. And if things get ugly, the blame goes on the communists. That’s the narrative – they provoked it, they started the violence. We’re just responding.»
- Juan Orlando Hernández in a voice note to Tomás Zambrano, March 17 2026.
General Romeo Vásquez Velásquez is also involved, the same Armed Forces chief who led the 2009 coup against Manuel Zelaya. In a voice note to Hernández he reports that the creation of taskforce inside the military is ready to “start the hunt” for a list of political targets.
«Mr. President, I already have a group ready inside the Armed Forces to begin the political hunt. I just need you to confirm the list, the names, and we move. We have the resources, we have the men. It’s a matter of your order.»
- Vásquez Velásquez in a voice note to Juan Orlando Hernández, March 24 2026.
Hernández responds, making the objective clear: controlling the powers of the state.
«Send me the list, Romeo. I need those names so we can locate them. This goes hand in hand with controlling the powers of the State, before we close the main cabinet. We can’t move forward without having all of them identified.»
- Juan Orlando Hernández in a voice note to Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, March 24th 2026
Beyond Honduras: a continental campaign
The plot extends far beyond the Honduran borders, all throughout Latin America. The leaked audios also uncovered the construction of a disinformation network to wage a smear-campaign against progressive governments of the continent, especially Claudia Sheinbaum’s Mexico and Gustavo Petro’s Colombia. Also a target of the campaign is the Zelaya family, probably the most powerful political dynasty in modern Honduras and the leading opposition to the National Party.
According to the leaked phone call between Hernández and Asfura, the former president’s plan is that of setting up an office based in the United States, with the help of republican political figures and Donald Trump himself, and creating a sort of Latin-American news outlet to produce and spread disinformation. From the same call, we discern that part of the funding comes from Honduran public money.
«I need you to please send 150,000 dollars to Rosales’s account, because we are going to rent an apartment here and we’re going to set up an office to launch a digital journalism unit. Someone else from here is going to run it for me — from the team of the President of the United States. He’s one of the Republicans helping us. They are going to set up a news site for us where they’re going to release some important data on Manuel Zelaya and Xiomara Castro.»
- Juan Orlando Hernández on a call with Nasry Asfura, January 30 2026.
«I’m going to wire it from a friend’s account. Let’s see if they can hand it over in cash, but explain to me what we are going to do with it — what we get out of this.»
- Nasry Asfura on a call with Juan Orlando Hernández, January 30 2026.
«We’re going to set up a cell, Mr. President. From here, from the United States — informational, so they don’t track us in Honduras. It”ll be a Latin-American news site. I was on a call with President Javier Milei and it went well. Very, very, very good. And I think at this point we can do big things for the whole region. There are dossiers coming against Mexico, dossiers coming against Colombia, and most importantly, against Honduras — in this case against the Zelaya family.»
- Juan Orlando Hernández on a call with Nasry Asfura, January 30 2026.
«I also think you need a bit more cash. For yourself. So we”ll send another 150,000. That way you can survive a bit longer. We’ll take it out of INSEP.»
- Nasry Asfura on a call with Juan Orlando Hernández, January 30 2026.
The participation of Javier Milei in the plot, mentioned in the phone call above, is confirmed through a call between Hernández and current vice-president María Antonieta Mejía. Between redirected Honduran public funds and Milei’s direct contribution, at least half a million dollars have been mobilized for the creation of the disinformation network.
«And I need that liquidity because we are going to set up an office here. With the support of some Republicans, so we can attack and remove the cancer of the left from Honduras and from all Latin America. I was telling President Asfura that we managed to speak with Javier Milei, and he is also putting in 350,000 dollars. Another big friend of ours from Mexico is also chipping in, just for the Mexican angle. We’re pretty much ready and waiting for this to move forward hard.»
- Juan Orlando Hernández on a call with María Antonieta Mejía, January 30 2026.
«Mr. President, if you want, let’s skip the details. I just wanted to confirm the amount. I’ve already noted it — I’ll handle the whole arrangement, 300,000 dollars then.»
- María Antonieta Mejía on a call with Juan Orlando Hernández, January 30 2026.
The Latin American Chessboard: A Legacy of Intervention
This plot merely sits at the end of a history of Western interventionism in Latin American politics. The US specifically is the proud author of a long list of interventions and not only through direct coups of democratically elected governments as we all know. Many people have drawn parallels between this specific conspiracy and the infamous Iran-Contra affair (or Contragate) which saw illicit dealings between the Contras in Nicaragua and US president Ronald Reagan.
The Latin American region is once again limited to being a big chessboard for foreign superpowers to play, using local operators (like Hernández, Asfura or Milei) to push the region toward a state that can be considered most favored by actors like Trump and Netanyahu. The final objective of destabilizing the region is obviously that of being able to exploit it without any consequences. For example, the US is continuously trying to expand its reach in rare earth and vital resources, to try and break the near-monopoly of China in the market.
Trump is also trying to restore the control and influence that the US used to have in central and south America, he has, as a matter of fact, been referencing the Monroe doctrine (which he promptly renamed as “Donroe” doctrine) a lot since his return to the White House. He aims to regaining US hegemony of Latin America, as we have seen, through a mix of lawfare (attempting to damage or delegitimize an individual and their legal rights), military control, special and often illegal access to resources, narco-terrorism, and media manipulation.
As usual, transnational economic and political power overrides popular will. That is unless these findings, these audio leaks, are properly investigated. Without a serious international investigation, and without consequences for the actors of the scheme, Honduras will most likely end up in a dictatorship or authoritarian state fueled by foreign interests and turned into a geopolitical node to destabilize the whole region. The question is whether the rest of the world will sit and watch it happen, or once again let the usual suspects act freely.