Honduras Unrest Spreads as Protesters Burn Tires at U.S. Embassy

(Bloomberg) -- Honduras was hit by a fresh round of violent demonstrations Friday as protesters clashed with security forces a day after it emerged that President Juan Orlando Hernandez had been investigated for drug trafficking by U.S. authorities.

Local television reports showed images and video of anti-government protesters blocking highways and throwing stones at anti-riot police, who fired teargas back. The main airport in the capital was temporarily closed as the unrest spread. One group -- it was unclear whether they were pro or anti-government -- set fire to a pile of tires in an entrance to the U.S. Embassy.

Teachers and medical workers began striking Thursday, demanding that the government repeal decrees that seek to restructure the public education and health sectors. Workers say the reforms will lead to privatization and mass layoffs.

The violence adds to pressure on Hernandez, a U.S. ally who has backed Washington's efforts to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, extradited drug traffickers, and said the country would move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Hernandez's pro-business policies have made him popular with foreign investors.

‘Many Tipping Points'

“There's a convergence of the electoral opposition, of the labor movement, of the teachers and doctors and health care workers, people saying ‘Juan Orlando out' and ‘enough already,'" said Dana Frank, a retired history professor and author of “The Long Honduran Night.” “It's a risk to his presidency, but there have been many tipping points that haven't tipped.”

Hernandez was elected to a second term in 2017 in a vote that the Organization of American States said was flawed. Months of violent protests followed.

The government said the decrees won't cause job losses and accused marchers of “destabilizing Honduran society.”

Hernandez's brother, Juan Antonio "Tony" Hernandez, was arrested in Miami in November on drug trafficking charges and is awaiting trial. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration targeted Hernandez himself in the investigation, according to court documents filed by prosecutors with the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York.

Thousands of Hondurans have left the country in the last year, fleeing poverty and violence in so-called "caravans" heading north through Mexico toward the U.S. border. President Donald Trump said in March that he would cut hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador over their failure to curb migration to the U.S.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael McDonald in San Jose, Costa Rica at mmcdonald87@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Matthew Bristow at mbristow5@bloomberg.net, Robert Jameson

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