Trump-Backed Contender Asfura Proclaimed Incoming Head of State of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was marred by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the American leader.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 ballots.
The electoral council proclaimed a winner before completing the review of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to recount votes flagged as “irregular”. The decision was decried by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the OAS, which sent an observation mission to the election 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 tremendous effort carried out by the councillors and the whole staff that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla refused to concede and published a series of statements alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were altered”.
The electoral council is made up 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 came in third place. Asfura’s win was announced only by the first two councillors.
The member associated with the president’s party rejected the result, claimed that an “stolen election” was under way and filed a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the outcome will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its statement, the council said: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the full council of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation before the end of the recount was the latest in a string 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 election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he won, and attacked the other leading candidates, labeling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the American leader also announced a pardon for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for allegedly 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 spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and looks forward to working with his government to advance economic growth and security in our hemisphere.”