Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed Incoming Head of State of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that extended for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the American leader.
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 difference of just 28,000 ballots.
The electoral council proclaimed a winner before completing the examination of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to recount votes flagged as “inconsistent”. The decision was decried by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the Organization of American States, which sent an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the tremendous effort undertaken by the councillors and the whole staff that ran the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted a number of messages alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.
The election board is composed of three members: one aligned with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose nominee came in third place. Asfura’s victory was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.
The representative linked to the president’s party rejected the outcome, claimed that an “stolen election” was taking place and filed a legal challenge with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in court.
In its announcement, the council said: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, 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 presidential 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 disputes that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.
Shortly prior to the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other leading candidates, calling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, 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 allegedly establishing “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his government to advance economic growth and safety in our region.”
