HAVANA TIMES – Here in New York, the drug trafficking trial of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is underway. Prosecutors accuse Hernández of ruling Honduras like a “narco-state” as he accepted millions of dollars in bribes from cocaine traffickers in exchange for protection. In the months after his presidential term ended in 2022, Hernández was arrested and then extradited to the U.S. He was a longtime U.S. ally who received unconditional backing during his eight-year term despite mounting reports of serious human rights violations and accusations of corruption and involvement with drug smuggling.