Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Proclaimed Incoming Head of State of the Central American Nation
Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a ballot tally that extended for almost a month and was clouded by claims of irregularities and accusations of interference by the American leader.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 votes.
The election authority proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the review of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the Organization of American States, which deployed an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort carried out by the members and the entire team that administered the election. My fellow citizens: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a number of messages alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.
The election board is made up of three members: one aligned with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the progressive president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate came in third place. Asfura’s win was declared only by the first two councillors.
The representative linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, alleged that an “stolen election” was under way and filed a complaint with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the result will be contested in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council said: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the polls, the full council of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term beginning on 27 January 2026 and concluding 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 US president.
Shortly prior to the vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other leading candidates, calling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the US president also granted clemency for the former Honduran president and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for allegedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and anticipates working with his government to promote prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”
