Honduras reacts with mixed feelings to the release of Juan Orlando Hernandez

"Omar owns a small fleet of cars in Tegucigalpa, works as a driver, and manages other drivers. His small business survives despite the constant threat posed by gangs and organized crime networks that conduct their illegal business in Honduras, a country mired in violence. I have to pay extortion, he says. Otherwise, I can't work. He's referring to the threatening calls he receives regularly demanding payments."

"This robust man supports the conservative National Party and makes no secret of his sympathy for former president Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was released by a pardon from Donald Trump after being sentenced to 45 years in a U.S. prison for his ties to drug trafficking. Omar's reason for supporting the politician is simple: he says he felt safer under Hernandez's government."

"Now I only have to pay one criminal group, Omar says resignedly. Before, up to three groups would call me, but that decreased with Juan Orlando's iron fist. They would kidnap fellow drivers and demand ransoms for their release. They killed several. Once, they called us demanding 100,000 lempiras (about $4,000) to release one of our colleagues. They threatened to cut off a finger or his hand. We scraped together 25,000 lempiras and paid, he recalls."

Omar owns a small fleet of cars in Tegucigalpa, works as a driver, and manages other drivers. His small business survives despite the constant threat posed by gangs and organized crime that operate in Honduras. Extortion calls demand payments as a condition to work. Under former president Juan Orlando Hernandez the number of extortion demands decreased and violent kidnappings and killings declined, which led some to feel safer despite Hernandez's corruption accusations and alleged constitutional violations. Hernandez was later sentenced in the U.S. for drug trafficking and then pardoned. Under the current government of Xiomara Castro, fear has returned and extortion pressures resumed, reflecting national political divisions.

Read at english.elpais.com