Trump-Backed Contender Asfura Declared New President of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that extended for almost a month and was marred by fraud allegations and criticism of meddling from the American leader.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 votes.
The election authority proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the examination of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to recount votes marked as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and lamented 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 recognise the tremendous effort undertaken by the councillors and the whole staff that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla refused to concede and published a number of messages alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the data from the original tally sheets were changed”.
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 candidate finished third. Asfura’s win was announced only by the first two councillors.
The member linked to the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “electoral coup” was under way and filed a legal challenge with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the outcome will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, 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 beginning on 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”
The declaration prior to the conclusion of the recount was the most recent in a string of disputes that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.
Shortly prior to the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other main contenders, labeling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the US president also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for allegedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and looks forward to working with his government to promote economic growth and security in our region.”
