Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared Incoming Head of State of the Central American Nation
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 nearly four weeks and was marred by fraud allegations and criticism of meddling from the American leader.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 votes.
The electoral council declared a victor prior to finishing the review of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to re-tally votes marked as “inconsistent”. The move was criticised by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which sent an observation mission 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 great work undertaken by the members and the entire team that administered the election. My fellow citizens: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla refused to concede and published a number of messages claiming manipulation in the tallying procedure, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the data from the initial count 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 nominee came in third place. Asfura’s victory was declared only by the first two councillors.
The member linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, alleged that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a complaint with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the outcome will be contested in court.
In its announcement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the polls, the full council of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the recount was the most recent in a string of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the US president.
Shortly prior to the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he won, and attacked the other leading candidates, labeling them socialists 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 supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for allegedly creating “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and anticipates working with his government to advance economic growth and security in our hemisphere.”