Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Declared Incoming President of the Central American Nation
Donald Trump-backed candidate 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 fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the US president.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 ballots.
The election authority proclaimed a winner before completing the examination of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to re-tally votes marked as “irregular”. The move was criticised by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which sent an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the great work carried out by the councillors and the entire team that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a number of messages claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the figures from the initial count sheets were altered”.
The electoral council is composed of three members: one affiliated 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 win was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.
The representative linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, claimed that an “stolen election” was under way and filed a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the result will be contested in court.
In its announcement, the council said: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the full council of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term beginning on 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation before the end of the review was the most recent in a string of controversies that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.
Days before the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he won, and criticized the other leading candidates, calling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the night of the election, the American leader also granted clemency for the former Honduran president and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for allegedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his government to promote economic growth and safety in our region.”
