The former president of Honduras is tried for drug trafficking

The United States has long struggled to find reliable allies in the so-called war on drugs. Take former Honduran president, Juan Orlando Hernández. Once feted in Washington as a partner in the struggle against the flow of narcotics, on February 20th he found himself in the dock in New York, standing trial for his alleged role in a drug-trafficking conspiracy that has run on for more than a decade.

In a 96-page document laying out their case against the former president, federal prosecutors say that Mr Hernández had merely “pretended to support the United States’ efforts to curb drug trafficking”, and had in fact been conspiring with drug lords to finance his political campaigns. Mr Hernández has strongly denied the accusations. He says they are lies made up by convicted traffickers looking to reduce their sentences in exchange for co-operation with prosecutors.