Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared Incoming President of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the victor of Honduras’s presidential election after a ballot tally that extended for nearly four weeks and was clouded by claims of irregularities and criticism of meddling from the American leader.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The election authority declared a victor before completing the examination of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to re-tally votes marked as “inconsistent”. The move was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the Organization of American States, which deployed an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself president-elect. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the great work carried out by the councillors and the whole staff that ran the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla refused to concede and published a series of statements claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the figures from the initial count sheets were changed”.
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 progressive president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate came in third place. Asfura’s victory was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.
The member linked to the president’s party rejected the result, alleged that an “electoral coup” was taking place and filed a legal challenge with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in court.
In its statement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, expressed sovereignly at the polls, the plenary session of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term starting 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”
The declaration before the end of the recount was the most recent in a series of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.
Days before the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other leading candidates, calling them socialists or allies 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 ally 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’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his administration to promote prosperity and safety in our hemisphere.”