Latin America & Caribbean
From humble roots to president of Honduras: Juan Orlando Hernández - in photos
Born in a poor, rural, mountainous region of western Honduras, Hernández served 16 years in Congress before being elected president in 2013, re-elected in 2017 and extradited in 2022.
The birthplace of President Juan Orlando Hernández, in Gracias, Lempira, a poor, mountainous province in western Honduras. Photo by Jeff Ernst.
A cement plaque sits along a road that’s under construction in Valladolid, Lempira, the home province of President Juan Orlando Hernández: “Here began the political career of Honduras’ best president,” signed by Hernández himself. Photo by Jeff Ernst
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández grew up in rural Lempira province, one of 17 children of a coffee farmer. Photo courtesy of JuanOrlando.com
President Juan Orlando Hernández campaigning on horseback. Photo courtesy of JuanOrlando.com
Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández campaigned on horseback in rural areas. The president seen here in Olancho (white shirt on the lead horse).
The hotel Posada Don Juan in Gracias, Lempira, is owned by the Hernández family. Photo by Jeff Ernst.
The hotel Posada Don Juan in the town of Gracias, in the mountainous western province of Lempira, is owned by the Hernández family. Photo by Jeff Ernst
Ruling party election publicity in of La Campa, Lempira, the home province of President Juan Orlando Hernández. The federal government has invested heavily in social programs in rural areas. As a result the ruling National Party won by a landslide in those areas in the controversial Nov. 26 elections. Photo by Jeff Ernst.
Ruling National party flags adorn the streets of of La Campa, Lempira, in the mountainous western province of Lempira, Honduras, home to President Juan Orlando Hernández. Photo by Jeff Ernst.
A home built with funds from the Honduran government program Vida Mejor. When Hernández assumed the presidency in 2014, rural families became the focus and the program was placed under the umbrella of Vida Mejor along with a vast expansion of direct assistance programs. Photo by Jeff Ernst
President Hernández’s signature poverty eradication initiative, Vida Mejor (Better Life) is very evident in Valladolid in the westerrn province of Lempira, including this church. Photo by Jeff Ernst.
President Hernández lay foundation stones at a park, part of a government experiment to create safe places in gang-invested neighborhoods for families to take children to play. Courtesy of the President's office.
Juan Orlando Hernández, president of Honduras during an interview with Univision News at his home in the capital, Tegucigalpa, Jan 19, 2018.
Univision
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks during his closing campaign rally, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Nov. 19, 2017 file photo, AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd
Juan Orlando Hernández was sworn in as president on Saturday for a second term. Seen here with First Lady Ana García at the National ceremony in Tegucigalpa.
Gustavo Amador / EFE
Honduras' former President Juan Orlando Hernandez boards a plane of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), during his extraditaton to United State at the Air force Base, in Tegucigalpa, on April 21, 2022.
ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP via Getty ImagesRelacionados: