麻豆社

When the president stands accused of drug trafficking, what hope is there? From 2014, for eight years Juan Orlando Hernandez ruled Honduras like his personal fiefdom. A Central American strongman comparable with some of the worst from decades past, under his presidency Honduras began a rapid descent into a so-called 鈥渘arco-state鈥�. The allegations against his government soon started to mount up: human rights violations, corruption and impunity; accusations of torture and extrajudicial killings by the police and military. And at its heart, the claim by US prosecutors of a multi-million dollar drug smuggling ring, overseen from the presidential palace itself. Just weeks after he left power in January 2022, Juan Orlando Hernandez was arrested and extradited to the US to face drug trafficking charges. American prosecutors allege he used his security forces to protect some drugs shipments and eliminate competitors.

In this week鈥檚 Assignment, Will Grant, the 麻豆社鈥檚 Central America correspondent, finds out what life was like under the disgraced president and meets some people trying to instil a little hope in a nation which hasn鈥檛 had any for a long time. He meets Norma, the mother of Keyla Martinez, who was killed in a police cell. Initially, the police said she had killed herself, but hospital reports later proved this wasn鈥檛 the case. Now, can Norma Martinez鈥檚 campaign for justice bring a sense of hope to those who don鈥檛 trust the authorities, and have endured years of rampant corruption and police impunity?

Produced by Phoebe Keane