Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed Incoming Head of State of the Central American Nation
Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a ballot tally that extended for almost a month and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the American leader.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 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 examination of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to recount votes flagged as “inconsistent”. The move was criticised by defeated candidates and lamented by the OAS, which sent an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort 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 stated.
Nasralla refused to concede and posted a number of messages claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the figures from the original tally sheets were altered”.
The election board is composed of three councillors: 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 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 “stolen election” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the outcome will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its statement, the council said: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, 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 four-year term beginning on 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”
The declaration before the end of the review was the latest in a series of disputes that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.
Shortly prior to the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other main contenders, calling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the US president also announced a pardon for the former Honduran president and Asfura ally 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 spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his government to promote prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”
