Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed Incoming Head of State of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the winner of Honduras’s presidential election following a ballot tally that extended for almost a month and was marred by fraud allegations and criticism of meddling from the US president.
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 moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 votes.
The election authority proclaimed a winner before completing the review of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes flagged as “inconsistent”. The move was decried by defeated candidates and deplored by the Organization of American States, which deployed an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort 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 posted a series of statements alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the figures from the initial count sheets were changed”.
The electoral council 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 win was declared only by the first two councillors.
The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “stolen election” was taking place and lodged a legal challenge with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the outcome will be challenged in court.
In its statement, the council said: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the plenary session 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 ending on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the recount was the most recent in a series of disputes that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.
Days before the vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he won, and criticized the other leading candidates, calling 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 ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and looks forward to working with his administration to advance prosperity and safety in our region.”
