Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed Incoming Head of State of the Central American Nation
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that extended for almost a month and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the US president.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The election authority proclaimed a winner before completing the review of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to recount votes marked as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which deployed an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort carried out by the councillors and the entire team that ran the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla refused to concede and published a series of statements alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the data from the initial count sheets were altered”.
The electoral council is made up of three councillors: one affiliated with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose nominee finished third. Asfura’s win was declared only by the first two councillors.
The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the result, alleged that an “stolen election” was taking place and lodged a legal challenge with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council said: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the polls, the plenary session of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential 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 string of controversies that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.
Days before the vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he won, and attacked the other main contenders, calling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the US president also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras 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 US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to 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 president-elect Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his administration to promote economic growth and security in our region.”
