US, Israel conspiring to help convicted former Honduran president return to power: Report

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are allegedly working to facilitate the return of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez to power, a report said Wednesday.

The move is aimed at turning Honduras into a strategic zone of military, logistical and economic operations for the interests of the US and Israel in the region, according to a joint investigation by Hondurasgate and Spain’s Canal RED, which cited a series of audio recordings from WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram featuring conversations as evidence of an operation of political interference and corruption aimed at the reinstatement of Hernandez, who was sentenced to 45 years in a US federal prison on June 26, 2024 for drug trafficking and weapons offenses.

The outlet published alleged audio recordings in which Hernandez, current President Nasry Asfura and a group of Honduran officials are heard discussing in detail a supposed operation driven by the US and financed by Israel to weave a network of corruption in Honduras, with the aim of turning the Central American country into a US investment hub.

Hernandez is heard speaking with Asfura, National Electoral Council member Cosette Alejandra Lopez-Osorio Aguilar, National Congress President Tomas Zambrano and First Vice President Maria Antonieta Mejia about how the pardon granted by President Trump in November 2025 was intended to pave the way for his return to the presidency in 2030 and that he has received strong support from Netanyahu.

“The prime minister of Israel is going to support us. We are very grateful to him—they had a lot to do with it. In fact, they had everything to do with my release and the negotiations,” Hernandez says in the audio shared by Canal Red.

Trump pardoned Hernandez on Dec. 1, 2025, a day after Honduran general elections in which Asfura, the conservative candidate of the National Party—the same party Hernandez belonged to during his presidency—won.

The decision by the Trump administration took the Honduran public by surprise, as the country was going through presidential elections marked by severe technical problems, inconsistencies and allegations of fraud against the National Party.

With the messages revealed by Canal Red, the events surrounding the Honduran elections take on a darker tone, as in addition to the serious irregularities and alleged fraud that led to Asfura’s victory, Trump had openly backed Asfura, even threatening to cut aid to the country if he lost. This led the government of then-President Xiomara Castro to accuse the US president of interference.

“I want to believe that you are not going to cast me aside because, thanks to me, you are sitting in that chair. I will be president, and I expect your support, because that is what we discussed with President Trump,” Hernandez is heard telling Asfura regarding his political future in Honduras.

Trump’s interest in the Central American country, along with Israel’s alleged financial backing, could be understood as an attempt by the West to gain control over Honduran territory.

According to Canal Red’s investigation, Asfura has already begun discussions with major investors, including US-based General Electric, to take over large portions of Honduran territory and industries, with Hernandez playing a role in those plans.

The report revealed how Asfura details to Hernandez that investors are very interested in expanding free trade zones known as ZEDEs in Honduras—heavily criticized for being autonomous enclaves governed by investors within the country—as well as the Palmerola International Airport and the interoceanic railway, which would be allocated to General Electric.