A leak of 37 audio recordings reveals an alleged joint operation by the United States and Israel to influence Latin American politicians, destabilize progressive governments, and facilitate the return to power of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, convicted of drug trafficking and later pardoned by Donald Trump. The recordings, published by the outlet Diario Red and the website Hondurasgate.ch, include conversations held between January and April 2026 through applications such as WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram.
At the center of the allegations is Juan Orlando Hernández, who governed Honduras between 2014 and 2022. In 2024, he was sentenced in New York to 45 years in prison for conspiring to import hundreds of tons of cocaine into the United States, in a case in which prosecutors described the country as a “narco-state.” However, Trump pardoned him at the end of 2025, on the eve of the Honduran elections later won by Nasry Asfura. In one of the recordings, a voice attributed by the investigation to Hernández states: “The money for the pardon did not even come from you. It came from a council of rabbis” adding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “everything to do” with both his release and the negotiations.
The recordings also describe a plan to turn Honduras into a strategic enclave serving foreign interests. Among the measures discussed are the expansion of the Employment and Economic Development Zones (ZEDES), which allow private jurisdictions outside state control; the construction of a new U.S. military base; a free trade agreement; and legislation favorable to artificial intelligence companies. Hernández would also oversee the creation of an “information cell” based in the United States, partially financed by Argentine president Javier Milei with 350,000 dollars, aimed at “extirpating the cancer of the left” in Latin America, with Mexico and Colombia identified as the first targets.
Following the revelations, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum described the scheme as an effort by the “international right wing” to spread falsehoods. Colombian president Gustavo Petro questioned on social media: “Why would Mr. Netanyahu pay to free a major drug trafficker, former president of Honduras, solely in order to destroy the governments of Colombia and Mexico?” Meanwhile, Hernández denied that the voice heard in the recordings was his and denounced a disinformation campaign, while the website Hondurasgate.ch reportedly received more than 40,000 hacking attacks from the United States and Israel on its first day online.
References
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Diario Red and Hondurasgate.ch (2026). Exclusive investigation later covered by Euronews.
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Euronews (2026). ‘Hondurasgate’: U.S. interference and Trump’s role in returning the former Honduran president to power. https://es.euronews.com/2026/04/30/hondurasgate-eeuu-y-trump-conspiraron-para-devolver-al-poder-al-expresidente-de-honduras
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Agence France-Presse (AFP) via France24 (2026). “Hondurasgate”: audio recordings reveal an alleged U.S. plot against the Latin American left. https://www.france24.com/es/minuto-a-minuto/20260511-hondurasgate-unos-audios-revelan-una-supuesta-trama-de-eeuu-contra-la-izquierda-en-latinoamérica
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Diario y Radio Universidad de Chile (2026). Hondurasgate: the international plot against left-wing governments in Latin America. https://radio.uchile.cl/2026/05/09/hondurasgate-la-trama-internacional-contra-gobiernos-de-izquierda-en-america-latina/
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Cubainformación (2026). Hondurasgate: the U.S. and Israel turn Honduras into their base against Latin America. https://www.cubainformacion.tv/america-latina/20260507/122508/122508-hondurasgate-eeuu-e-israel-convierten-a-honduras-en-su-base-contra-latinoamerica
