Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared Incoming Head of State of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a ballot tally that extended for almost a month and was clouded by claims of irregularities and criticism of interference by the US president.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 votes.
The election authority proclaimed a winner before completing the review of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “inconsistent”. The decision was decried by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the OAS, which sent an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the great work undertaken by the members and the whole staff that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a series of statements alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the figures from the original tally sheets were altered”.
The electoral council is made up 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 victory was declared only by the initial pair of councillors.
The representative linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the result, claimed that an “electoral coup” was taking place and lodged a legal challenge with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the outcome will be contested in court.
In its statement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the ballot box, the full council of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term beginning on 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation before the end of the recount was the most recent in a series of disputes that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.
Days before the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the night of the election, the US president also announced a pardon for the former Honduran president and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and looks forward to working with his government to promote economic growth and security in our region.”
