Trump-Backed Contender Asfura Proclaimed Incoming Head of State of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a ballot tally that extended for almost a month and was clouded by fraud allegations and accusations of interference by the US president.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 votes.
The election authority proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the review of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to re-tally votes flagged as “inconsistent”. The decision was criticised by defeated candidates and deplored by the Organization of American States, which deployed an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the great work undertaken by the members and the whole staff that administered the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted a series of statements claiming manipulation in the tallying procedure, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.
The election board is composed of three members: one affiliated with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose nominee came in third place. Asfura’s win was declared only by the first two councillors.
The member associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the result, claimed that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in court.
In its announcement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, 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 presidential term beginning on 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”
The declaration before the end of the review was the latest in a string of controversies 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, stated the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other leading candidates, labeling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the US president also granted clemency 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, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his government to promote prosperity and safety in our region.”
