Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Proclaimed Incoming Head of State of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that dragged on for nearly four weeks and was marred by claims of irregularities and accusations of interference by the US president.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 ballots.
The election authority declared a victor before completing the review of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to recount votes marked as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by defeated candidates and lamented by the Organization of American States, which sent an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself president-elect. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort carried out by the members and the whole staff that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted a number of messages 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 aligned with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate finished third. Asfura’s win was announced only by the first two councillors.
The representative linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the result, claimed that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the result will be contested in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council said: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the polls, the plenary session 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 before the end of the review was the latest in a string of controversies that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.
Shortly prior to the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he won, 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 granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and anticipates working with his government to advance prosperity and safety in our hemisphere.”
