Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Proclaimed Incoming President of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a ballot tally that extended for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and criticism of meddling from the US president.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 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 examination of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to recount votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was decried by defeated candidates and lamented by the OAS, which deployed an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the great work undertaken by the members and the whole staff that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a series of statements alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the data from the original tally sheets were changed”.
The election board is composed of three councillors: 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 member associated with the president’s party rejected the result, 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 court.
In its announcement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the polls, the plenary session of the CNE declares 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 most recent in a string of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.
Days before the vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the night of the election, the American leader 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 major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on a public platform. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his administration to advance economic growth and safety in our region.”
