What’s coming after the JOH trial: “There are no changes, only new leaders”

There are two statements in the trial of former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, which resonated in the courtroom about the state of politics and drug trafficking in the country. One belongs to Cichiro, Davies Lionel Rivera Maradiaga and the other to former ruler.

-Colon: Did Sabilon suggest you record?

-Devis: No, my cousin.

-Devis: It is common in Honduras for politicians to accept and then deny drug-related bribes.

At another time, the former president, Juan Orlando Hernández, questioned by the prosecutor, Jacob Gutwillig, clarified how the posters behaved with a political campaign:

-AUSA: Welles supported the other party, didn’t he?

-Joh: Drug dealers have no side, sir.

-AUSA: But they support candidates, right?

-Joh: Yes. Or they try to.

These statements, according to Patio analysts, leave a clear message. Nor will anything change in relation to the relationship between drug trafficking and politics or vice versa in the country. Furthermore, they dare to say, these confessed boss replacements in New York operate freely with the protection of other people and the same politicians who were mentioned in the trial.

“Honduras needs more than a little foreign justice,” says Honduran author Godofre Aromún, author of a book, The Last Professor, dealing with these issues. “Their citizens should examine how democracy works in other countries and seek a direct message with clear ideas for those studying law.” He concluded his remarks by saying: “It cannot be that after the fall of “Mel” in 2009, we saw how the tyrant JOH secured his power, election fraud, and we are still continuing the same. That reality Is: There is no change, only new leaders in power who we believe are better or who have served only to get rid of the worst.

What is the route?

Luis León, a political analyst, goes on to say that Hondurans and the authorities should consider the future of the country in the short term in the face of new elections, rather than being carried away by the euphoria of the verdict against Hernandez.

“We already have a criminal, what is the way for tomorrow? “We are engaging in a debate about who is more corrupt, more drug traffickers and when we will see them in prison and not about what Honduras will be like in ten years,” he said.

As for the turn the country may take in investigations into the political figures mentioned in New York, some analysts don’t believe things will get any worse.

Criminologist Gonzalo Sánchez believes that witnesses cannot be given primary credibility until the United States has an ongoing investigation, although in Honduras, he adds, it is known that drug trafficking has financed political campaigns for many years. “I’m not saying that, it’s an open secret that the campaign has been financed with drug trafficking with the condition that the politicians will help them when they come to power, Juan Pueblo knows that.”

Also, he believes the former ruler’s action “sends a strong message to the political class” but doubts they will learn from it. “They don’t want to realize that they can’t do things bravely.” Sánchez is also of the opinion that the extradition treaty should be revised so that there is reciprocity between the two countries, as until now only Honduras extradits its compatriots, while the United States turns a blind eye in cases like Axel Lopez. , one of the great scammers of mobile hospitals, or the murderer of three women in Roatan, recently, who is still a refugee in the United States.

“You shouldn’t feel safe”

Contrary to the above, former DEA agent Max Vigil, who has closely followed the entire case, maintains that the aforementioned politicians “should not feel safe” because the former ruler’s conspiracy is extensive and it is certain that the United States is working to create new formalities. . Extradition Requests.

“I have noticed that drug trafficking has become normal in Honduras for a long time. The cost of the campaign is up to 400 million lampiras and can only be paid for by drug traffickers in exchange for protection, because this is how cartels work with protection,” he noted.

Both Sánchez and Vigil agree on one thing: drug trafficking continues in Honduras with new leaders and new partners, if not with the same people mentioned in New York who are now in power.

“It’s utopian to think that traffic will stop,” says Sanchez. “Ringleaders are easily replaced and there will always be someone who starts protecting them,” Vigil asserted.

There is a story that better explains what these analysts said. It happened in the mountains of Sinaloa, Mexico, the birthplace of the cartel of the same name, when Mexican journalist Julio Scherer asked Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the leader of the cartel of the same name, in the only interview and the only photo. In his existence, he has been active in drug trafficking for almost 70 years without ever going to jail – if one day he gets caught or he turns himself in.

-One day I decide to turn myself in to the government so they can shoot me. My case should be exemplary, a lesson for all. They shoot me and there is an explosion of joy. But after a few days we know that nothing has changed.

– Nothing, the boss is down? – Millions of people are involved in the drug problem. How to master them? For bosses, locked up, dead or extradited, their replacements are already out. -Drug trafficking is as ingrained in society as corruption. (EG)

What will happen with extradition?

• Gonzalo Sanchez Analyst

“I do not want to distort what I say about self-agreement, my opinion is that it should be amended while maintaining the principle of reciprocity and the penalty should be what exists in Honduras as the crime was. As long as the test is Committed to Honduras until then. Although it may seem strange, it is not true that Honduras is extraditing Hondurans because the United States requests it. For me, what should be done is for the lawyers of the United States to come up with evidence, materials and scientific evidence. Reasons why extradition requests.

• Mike Vigil, former DEA agent

“I hope you will see formal charges, more extradition requests, the only worrying thing is that after many names come out in the JOH trial, the politicians who are connected will try or take action to undermine the extradition treaty. Avoid them, many already have. talking about it. I hope that the mentioned people will be investigated, as the Honduran prosecutor said, or that when the extradition request comes it is not just a ploy to say that we are looking for them because it is known that these persons Needs correction to find out. Too big.”