Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed Incoming President of the Central American Nation
Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a ballot tally that dragged on for almost a month and was clouded by claims of irregularities and criticism of meddling from the US president.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The electoral council proclaimed a winner before completing the examination of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to recount votes marked as “irregular”. The decision was decried by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the Organization of American States, which sent an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the great work carried out by the councillors and the entire team that administered the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla refused to concede and posted a number of messages alleging fraud in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the figures from the initial count sheets were changed”.
The election board is composed of three members: one affiliated with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose nominee finished third. Asfura’s win was declared only by the initial pair of councillors.
The member associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, alleged that an “electoral coup” was under way and filed a legal challenge with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the outcome will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council said: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the ballot box, the plenary session of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term beginning on 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”
The declaration before the end of the review was the latest in a string of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.
Days before the vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other leading candidates, labeling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the US president also announced a pardon for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for allegedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and looks forward to working with his administration to promote prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”
