Carlos Zelaya, secretary of the National Congress of Honduras and member of the ruling Freedom and Refoundation Party (LIBRE), resigned from his post and as a national deputy on Saturday to collaborate in the investigations for drug trafficking against former president Juan Orlando Hernández Alvarado.

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Carlos Zelaya communicated this decision after testifying before the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the course of the trial of former President Juan Orlando Hernández (2014-2018), who was convicted by a New York court for several drug trafficking-related crimes.

The former MP told local media that in 2013 he participated in a meeting attended by one of those involved in the crimes for which Hernández Alvarado was investigated.

#FromTheSouth News Bits | Honduras President Xiomara Castro denounced plans to destabilize her government and divide the armed forces. pic.twitter.com/zfZh0Qwq5e

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) August 30, 2024

Zelaya claimed that the meeting was a trap set by people linked to drug trafficking. He made it clear that he did not receive any money for participating in it. He assured that neither President Xiomara Castro nor the current coordinator of Libre, Manuel Zelaya, were aware of his intention to attend.

Shortly after, the son of the former Secretary of Congress and Minister of Defense, José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, resigned from his portfolio to allow the investigation by the competent authorities.

La misión del @PartidoLibre y de la Resistencia está por encima del ejercicio de un cargo público, por ello, y para que se investigue con toda libertad, he presentado mi renuncia como Ministro de Defensa ante la Presidenta @XiomaraCastroZ resaltando la integridad y el honor de mi…

— José Manuel Zelaya Rosales (@JoseMZelayaR) August 31, 2024

He said in X that the resistance mission headed by the LIBRE Party “is above the exercise of a public office, and so, to be investigated freely, I have presented my resignation as Defense Minister to President Xiomara Castro”.

In the statement that he made about his intention to resign, Zelaya Rosales highlighted his “father’s honor”, who voluntarily appeared before the Attorney General’s Office to testify about the video recorded at the 2013 meeting.

Following these events, the coordinator of the Free party, Manuel Zelaya, convened an emergency session of the national coordination, this Sunday at 15:00 local time in the headquarters of Libre, located in the Humuya colony of Tegucigalpa, Francisco Morazán.

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