Trump-Backed Contender Asfura Proclaimed Incoming President of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and accusations of interference by the US president.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 ballots.
The electoral council proclaimed a winner before completing the review of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was decried by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the Organization of American States, which deployed an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself president-elect. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the great work undertaken by the councillors and the whole staff that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla refused to concede and published a series of statements claiming manipulation in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the figures from the initial count sheets were changed”.
The electoral council is composed of three councillors: one aligned with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the progressive president, Xiomara Castro, whose nominee finished third. Asfura’s win was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.
The member associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, claimed that an “electoral coup” was taking place and lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the outcome will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council said: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed sovereignly at the polls, the plenary session of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”
The declaration before the end of the review was the most recent in a string of controversies that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the US president.
Shortly prior to the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he won, and criticized the other leading candidates, labeling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the night of the election, the US president also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for allegedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on a public platform. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and anticipates working with his administration to advance prosperity and safety in our region.”
