- Title: Honduran president denies protection for drug traffickers
- Date: 17th October 2019
- Summary: TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS (OCTOBER 16, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS, POLICE GUARDING ROAD BY PROTEST PROTESTERS CARRYING FLAGS, CHANTING (Spanish) "OUT" VARIOUS, PROTESTERS MARCHING DOWN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) HONDURAN OPPOSED TO GOVERNMENT, ANGEL EUCEDA, SAYING: "The protest is because the people are tired of so much corruption from this narco-government which is ruled by the drug-trafficker (President) Juan Orlando Hernandez and thanks to Lempira (native Honduran hero) and the Honduran people who are against this drug-trafficker who has brought shame on the country. We Hondurans deserve a better president." VARIOUS, PROTESTERS MARCHING IN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEMBER OF HONDURAS' LIBERAL PARTY, LUIS ZELAYA, SAYING: "(The protest is to) denounce this narco-dictator, this narco-government, who has brought us shame and done so much damage to our country, to demand the exit of (President) Juan Hernandez (Orlando) from power, given that the country can't be governed by someone who has been marked by a United States federal court for co-conspiring in the trafficking of cocaine to the United States." POLICE PROTESTERS MARCHING ON STREET
- Embargoed: 31st October 2019 21:03
- Keywords: Honduras Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez Central America brother trial bribes drugs narcotrafficking
- Location: TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS
- City: TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS
- Country: Honduras
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA003B1HMJBB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez denied on Thursday (October 17) that the Central American nation protects drug traffickers or is a narco state, following allegations in the U.S. trial of his brother that the two men accepted bribes from cocaine smugglers.
President Hernandez spoke on national television as a jury deliberated after closing arguments from U.S. prosecutors.
The president's brother Juan Antonio "Tony" Hernandez faces charges of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.
Tony Hernandez, a former congressman, has pleaded not guilty.
The trial has brought increased pressure on President Hernandez as seen at a protest in the capital of Tegucigalpa Wednesday (October 16) where people marched down main streets chanting "out."
(Production: Marvin Valladares, Manuel Carrillo) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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