Hondurasgate Exposes Trumpism’s Dark Network Targeting Petro, Sheinbaum, and Latin America’s Left: 37 Audio Files and Forensic Analysis Released

Original article: Hondurasgate destapa la caja negra del trumpismo contra Petro, Sheinbaum y la izquierda latinoamericana: publican 37 audios y verificación forense

The leak of a series of audio recordings from WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram, known as «Hondurasgate«, has unveiled the hidden agenda of a political and media cell aligned with Trumpism, funded by Honduran government structures, aimed at destabilizing the administrations of Gustavo Petro in Colombia and Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico, along with other members of the Latin American left.

The obtained recordings, disseminated by Diario Red, reveal conversations among former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández — convicted of drug trafficking in the United States and later pardoned by Donald Trump’s administration — current Central American leader Nasry Asfura, and Vice President María Antonieta Mejía.

The records detail the formation of a communication team, financed with public resources from Honduras, Israel, and contributions from the government of Argentinian President Javier Milei, exceeding half a million dollars, with the goal of «media attacks» on progressive leaders in the region.

The so-called «digital journalism unit» aims to create files and launch pressure campaigns against governments in the region, focusing specifically on Mexico and Colombia, as part of a broader strategy for repositioning the far-right in Latin America.

We had exclusive access to a series of audios that we investigated and conducted extensive analysis on, reorganizing information to produce these three deliveries in collaboration with the Honduras Gate platform, a site featuring investigators from Honduras where the corresponding audios and additional information can be accessed. This is functioning as the place where we are compiling everything.

Hondurasgate Releases 37 Audio Files and Forensic Verification

This week, the Hondurasgate platform published both the complete set of 37 audio files that comprise the investigation and the forensic analysis conducted using the Phonexia Voice Inspector program, developed by Phonexia, a company specializing in voice recognition and biometrics.

The investigative journalism outlet indicated that before publishing each recording, they execute an automated forensic analysis using Phonexia Voice Inspector.

«When a recording arrives at a newsroom through encrypted channels from an anonymous source, the first instinct of serious journalism is not to publish — it is to verify. When an audio arrives through encrypted channels from an anonymous source, the primary duty is not to publish, but to verify,» a representative stated, reminding that any public voice can be cloned using AI in less than a minute.

For this reason, they meticulously explained the forensic authentication protocol followed for each audio published, making the technical dossier and the ability to play the files available directly from their website: https://hondurasgate.ch/.

The digital outlet highlighted that in 2023, a plausible voice cloning of a head of state cost thousands of dollars and required a technical team; whereas in 2026, it «costs three minutes on a web interface».

According to Hondurasgate, the protocol used consists of nine steps: encrypted capture, decoding to PCM, resampling to 8 kHz, recoding to OGG/OPUS, SHA-256 hashing, extraction of more than twenty-five acoustic indicators (jitter, shimmer, respiratory events, MFCC variance, formants), and an AI synthesis probability verdict.

Anything below a 10% AI probability and above an 80% confidence level is considered a firm human voice by the engine. This protocol neutralizes vishing, voice cloning (ElevenLabs, OpenAI TTS), and hybrid deepfakes.

The outlet also emphasized that the chain of custody is transparent and any reader can download the desired file and verify its integrity, while the identities of the sources remain confidential under professional secrecy.

The protocol used produces two documents for each leak, available in both English and Spanish. Specifically, this includes an individual report for each audio and a combined dossier covering the 37 audios released to date.

What Do the Hondurasgate Audios Reveal?

In a conversation with the program Sentido Común, hosted by El Ciudadano director Javier Pineda, political scientist and researcher from Canal Red América Latina, Valeria Duarte, who published the leaks of the «Hondurasgate» case, pointed out that the audios, dated between January and April 2026, reveal the existence of a network of corruption in Latin America and the Caribbean financed by the United States and Israel, to promote interference in geostrategic areas of the continent.

She highlighted that in an initial release, which provided a «general snapshot,» a record showed former president Juan Orlando Hernández mentioning that the pardon he received in November last year, just two days before the elections in Honduras, was financed by Benjamin Netanyahu and involved lobbying from Republicans.

The researcher pointed out that political advisor Roger Stone «was responsible for organizing these meetings so that he (Hernández) could be released» from prison, with the overarching aim of having a clear field to return to Honduras and lead in the next elections.

You can watch the full interview below:

In one of the most revealing audios, dated January 30, 2026, the former leader instructs Asfura from the United States: “I need you to send about 150,000 dollars to Rosales’ account […] we’re going to set up an office to create a digital journalism unit. This will be managed by someone from the President of the United States’ team. They’re going to set up a news site where important data about Manuel Zelaya and Xiomara Castro will be released.«

Asfura responds by offering additional transfers from «a friend’s» account, including resources from the Social Security Institute (INSEP). Meanwhile, a conversation between Hernández and Milei included a commitment of an additional 350,000 dollars to carry out the destabilizing actions.

The news site would operate from the U.S. to avoid detection and would prepare “files” against Mexico, Colombia, and Honduras.

Hernández, in another call with Vice President María Antonieta Mejía, speaks of “attacking and eradicating the cancer of the left” in Latin America. Mejía requests to “omit details” and confirms the management of 300,000 dollars.

The leak also reveals a territorial reconversion plan: the expansion of ZEDES, a new military base in Roatán, and a terrorism confinement center in Tegucigalpa, alongside an interoceanic train awarded to General Electric, excluding China.

The audios also contain threats of «prison or death» against electoral advisor Marlon Ochoa, as well as Hernández instructing the President of the National Congress of Honduras, Tomás Zambrano—presumably at the behest of the President of the U.S.—to not hesitate in applying «any kind of violence».

“In Honduras, we need strength, we need logistics, we need blood. If you want to keep people controlled, you need to oppress them. Squeeze them. Counter violence by generating violence. It’s what President Trump says.”

Hernández even alludes to the figure of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar as a reference: “Don’t be so soft […] That’s what Pablo Escobar said.”