Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Declared Incoming Head of State of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed 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 overshadowed by fraud allegations and criticism of meddling from the American leader.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 votes.
The election authority declared a victor prior to finishing the examination of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to recount votes marked as “inconsistent”. The decision was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the Organization of American States, which deployed an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the great work carried out by the councillors and the whole staff 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 series of statements claiming manipulation in the tallying procedure, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the figures from the original tally sheets were altered”.
The election board is made up 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 candidate came in third place. Asfura’s win was announced only by the first two councillors.
The representative linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, alleged 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 declared: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the full council 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 declaration before the end of the recount was the latest in a series of disputes that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, 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 support the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other leading candidates, labeling them communists 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 major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to 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 looks forward to working with his government to promote prosperity and security in our region.”