Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared Incoming President of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a ballot tally that dragged on for almost a month and was marred by claims of irregularities and criticism of meddling from the American leader.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 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 declared a victor before completing the examination of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the OAS, which sent an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort carried out by the councillors 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 wrote.
Nasralla refused to concede and posted a number of messages alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the data from the original tally 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 finished third. Asfura’s victory was declared only by the first two councillors.
The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “electoral coup” was taking place and lodged a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the outcome will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly 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 declaration prior to the conclusion of the review was the most recent in a series of controversies that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.
Shortly prior to the vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he won, and criticized the other main contenders, calling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the night of the election, the US president also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for allegedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his government to advance prosperity and safety in our region.”