In news on Honduras, an explosive new investigation by the Associated Press says Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández’s new National Police chief personally helped facilitate a massive cocaine delivery to a drug cartel boss in 2013. The report says José David Aguilar Morán was serving as the chief of intelligence for the National Police when a police officer busted other officers escorting a tanker truck filled with more than 1,700 pounds of cocaine. Aguilar then reportedly personally ordered the corrupt officers to be freed and the drugs delivered. The U.S. street value of the cocaine shipment was over $20 million.

The AP investigation is another blow to the government of President Juan Orlando Hernández, who is slated to be sworn in on Saturday after a highly contentious re-election that the American Organization of States says was riddled with fraud. Since the November 26 vote, nationwide protests and strikes have rocked Honduras, with more mass protests being organized for Inauguration Day. This is demonstrator María Esther Escalante.

María Esther Escalante: “Unfortunately, democracy has been lost in this country. We see every day how the dictatorship imposes itself in the country and, therefore, creates a situation that puts greater complexity and greater difficulty on the defense of human rights.”