Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Declared Incoming President of the Central American Nation
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that dragged on for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the American leader.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The election authority declared a victor prior to finishing the examination of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to recount votes marked as “inconsistent”. The move was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the OAS, which deployed an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself president-elect. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the great work carried out by the members and the whole staff that ran the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a number of messages alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.
The election board is made up of three members: one aligned with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the progressive president, Xiomara Castro, whose nominee came in third place. Asfura’s victory was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.
The member associated with the president’s party rejected the result, claimed that an “electoral coup” was taking place and filed a legal challenge with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the result will be contested in the judiciary.
In its statement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed freely 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 beginning on 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation before the end of the recount was the most recent in a string of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.
Shortly prior to the vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he won, and criticized the other main contenders, calling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve 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 establishing “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and anticipates working with his administration to promote prosperity and safety in our region.”
