Trump-Backed Contender Asfura Declared Incoming Head of State of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that extended for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by claims of irregularities and accusations of interference by the US president.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and former mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The electoral council declared a victor before completing the examination of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “irregular”. The decision was decried by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the OAS, which deployed an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the great work undertaken by the councillors and the entire team that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. 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 tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the data from the initial count sheets were altered”.
The electoral council is composed of three councillors: one aligned 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 representative associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, claimed that an “electoral coup” was under way and filed a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the outcome will be contested in the judiciary.
In its statement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, expressed sovereignly at the polls, 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 concluding on 27 January 2030.”
The declaration prior to the conclusion of the review was the latest in a series of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, starting with what many saw as open interference by the US president.
Shortly prior to the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he won, 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 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 establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and looks forward to working with his administration to advance prosperity and safety in our hemisphere.”
