Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Declared New President of the Central American Nation
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the victor of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that extended for nearly four weeks and was marred by claims of irregularities and criticism of interference by the US president.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The election authority proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the review of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The decision was decried by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the OAS, which sent an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the tremendous effort carried out by the members 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 published a series of statements alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the figures from the original tally 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 finished third. Asfura’s victory was announced only by the first two councillors.
The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, claimed that an “stolen election” was under way and lodged a complaint with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the outcome will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its statement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the polls, the full council of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate 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 review was the latest in a series of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.
Days before the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other leading candidates, calling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the US president also granted clemency for the former Honduran president and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and anticipates working with his administration to promote economic growth and security in our hemisphere.”
