Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said the audio recordings were part of a smear campaign against her government [Getty]
An investigation based on leaked audio recordings has that the US, Israel, Argentina, and Honduras were allegedly working to spread fake news and misinformation to destabilise the governments of Latin America, including Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico.
On Thursday, the Hondurasgate website and the Mexico-based Diario Red en América Latina reported on audio recordings of alleged conversations between the former Honduran President, Juan Orlando Hernandez, the current president, Nasry Asfura, and the vice president, Maria Antonieta Mejua, all stating their objective to undermine the current administrations of Mexico and Colombia.
The leaked recordings also allege that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a role in securing the release of Hernandez from prison, after the latter was sentenced in New York in 2024 to 45 years behind bars on drug trafficking charges.
US President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon Hernandez was allegedly tied to wider arrangements involving pro-Israel networks, according to the reports.
In one recording, Hernandez allegedly says: “The pardon money didn’t even come from you. It came from a group of rabbis and people who supported Israel.” It was not clear who he was talking to.
In a separate recording, he says that Netanyahu had “everything to do” with his release and the talks that made it possible.
Hondurasgate states the leaked audio recordings were taken from Signal, WhatsApp, and Telegram conversations between January and April 2026, and were analysed using forensic voice authentication software developed by the Czech-based firm Phonexia.
The recordings further suggest that Israeli-linked actors saw Hernandez as a key ally in efforts to counter left-wing influence in Latin America.
Following the leaks, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, said she had listened to parts of the audio recordings and dismissed the allegations as “smears”.
“They can set up a smear campaign office against our government in Honduras,” she said, adding “it won’t affect us”.
The alleged leak comes amid strained relations between the US and Mexico, over Washington’s indictment request against the governor of Sinaloa, Ruben Rocha Moya, and nine other officials for alleged ties to drug trafficking.
