WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump, who has cast himself as a relentless foe of illegal drugs, pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, freeing him from a 45-year sentence on Tuesday (Dec 2) for conspiring to import tons of cocaine into the United States.

Trump’s extraordinary move undermines decades of US efforts to combat transnational drug networks, potentially damaging Washington’s credibility in Latin America, and signals to corrupt actors that political connections can outweigh criminal accountability.

Trump signed the pardon for Hernandez on Monday night, a White House official said. The Federal Bureau of Prisons released him from prison in Hazelton, West Virginia, on Monday. While some conservatives in the US, including Trump ally Rog...