Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed Incoming President of the Central American Nation
Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that extended for almost a month and was marred 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 city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 votes.
The electoral council proclaimed a winner before completing the examination of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “irregular”. The move was criticised by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which sent an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself president-elect. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the great work undertaken by the councillors and the whole staff that administered the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted a number of messages alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the figures from the original tally sheets were altered”.
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 victory was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.
The representative associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the result, alleged that an “stolen election” was taking place and filed a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council said: “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 four-year term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation before the end of the review was the most recent in a string of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, starting with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.
Shortly prior to the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he won, and attacked the other main contenders, labeling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the US president also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his administration to advance economic growth and security in our region.”
