Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared Incoming Head of State of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that dragged on for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and accusations of interference by the US president.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate 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” launched last week to re-tally votes flagged as “inconsistent”. The move was decried by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the Organization of American States, which sent an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the great work carried out by the members and the whole staff that administered the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a number of messages claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the data 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 progressive president, Xiomara Castro, whose nominee finished third. Asfura’s win was declared only by the first two councillors.
The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “stolen election” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the outcome will be challenged in court.
In its announcement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the ballot box, the full council of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term starting 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the review was the latest in a series of controversies that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.
Days before the vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he won, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them socialists 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 creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The people 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 anticipates collaborating with his government to promote economic growth and safety in our region.”
