Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared Incoming President of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the victor of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that extended for almost a month and was clouded by fraud allegations and accusations of interference by the American leader.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 votes.
The electoral council declared a victor before completing the review of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “irregular”. The move was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the OAS, which sent an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself president-elect. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the tremendous effort undertaken by the councillors and the whole staff that administered 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 alleging fraud in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the figures from the original tally sheets were changed”.
The electoral council is composed 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 candidate finished third. Asfura’s victory was declared only by the initial pair of councillors.
The representative linked to the president’s party rejected the outcome, claimed that an “stolen election” was taking place and lodged a complaint with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the outcome will be contested in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the polls, the full council 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 ending on 27 January 2030.”
The declaration before the end of the recount was the latest in a string of controversies that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, starting 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 back the next government only if he won, and criticized the other main contenders, calling them socialists 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 sentenced 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “The people of Honduras have spoken: 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.”
