Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder of FTX who is still serving his sentence, posted a series of posts on the X platform today (6th) through his proxy account @SBF_FTX, forming a series of articles titled "A tale of two Presidents".
In the post, SBF compared Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH). He pointed out that both came to power in "drug-ridden countries," but their subsequent actions were drastically different: JOH cooperated with the United States to combat drug cartels, resulting in a significant decrease in drug trafficking, and peacefully transferred power after his term ended; Maduro, on the other hand, cooperated with drug cartels, leading to a significant increase in drug trafficking, and refused to recognize the election results, becoming a dictator.
SBF went on to mention that the US arrested and extradited both men from their home countries to the US for trial—JOH was arrested immediately after his term ended, while Maduro was arrested after refusing to recognize the election. However, the reactions of Western liberal media were vastly different: they vehemently criticized Maduro's arrest as "illegal," while remaining silent or supporting JOH's arrest; the media called for Maduro's release but did not speak out for JOH.
SBF concluded by emphasizing that this is not a matter of the rule of law, but rather that liberal media outlets support "drug dictator" Maduro because they oppose Trump, while opposing Trump's pardon of his collaborator JOH. He stated bluntly, "Don't believe their nonsense; this has nothing to do with the rule of law."
SBF Post Background
This series of posts stems from recent major international events. On January 3, 2026, U.S. special forces conducted an operation in Venezuela, arresting Maduro and transferring him to New York for detention on charges including drug terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation, sparking international controversy. In contrast, JOH was previously sentenced to 45 years in prison by a U.S. court on similar drug charges, but was fully pardoned and released by Trump in December 2025.
