Honduran president due in Taiwan in surprise state visit

The outgoing Honduran president is due to start a three-day surprise visit to Taiwan amid worries by the self-ruled island that the next president of the Central American nation may break off relations and switch to diplomatic ties with Beijing

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The outgoing Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was due to start a three-day surprise visit to Taiwan on Friday as the self-ruled island, which is also claimed by China, worries that the next president of the Central American nation may break off relations and switch to diplomatic ties with Beijing.

Hernández and his wife will meet President Tsai Ing-wen as part of a celebration of 80 years of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Honduras. He will also visit the Central American Bank for Economic Integration office in Taipei, a Honduran development bank.

Hernández's trip comes just weeks ahead of the presidential election in Honduras. He is due to leave office in January and has become increasingly isolated him as he is facing allegations of ties to drug traffickers from U.S. federal prosecutors in New York. His brother had been arrested in Miami in 2018 by U.S. authorities on suspicion of drug trafficking.

Politically, there's little to gain in his trip. Hernández will not be able to run for office again, said Antonio C. Hsiang, a professor at La Academia Nacional de Estudios Y Estrategicos, who studies Latin America studies. Instead, Hernández is likely in Taiwan to seek support, financial or otherwise, he said.