Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed New President of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that extended for almost a month and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the American leader.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 votes.
The electoral council declared a victor before completing the review 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 deplored by the Organization of American States, which deployed an observation mission 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. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla refused to concede and posted a series of statements alleging fraud in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.
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 victory was declared only by the first two councillors.
The representative linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the result, alleged that an “stolen election” was taking place and lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the result will be contested in court.
In its statement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the full council of the CNE proclaims 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 before the end of the recount was the most recent in a series of disputes that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.
Days before the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he won, and attacked the other main contenders, calling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, 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 allegedly creating “a cocaine superhighway 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’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and looks forward to working with his administration to promote prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”
