Trump-Backed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New President of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a ballot tally that dragged on for almost a month and was clouded by fraud allegations and criticism of meddling from the American leader.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference 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 “inconsistent”. The move was decried by defeated candidates and lamented by the OAS, which sent an observation mission to the election 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 great work carried out by the councillors and the entire team that administered the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a number of messages claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were altered”.
The electoral council is composed 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 nominee came in third place. Asfura’s win was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.
The representative associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, claimed that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the outcome will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, 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 four-year term beginning on 27 January 2026 and ending 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, starting with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.
Shortly prior to the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he won, and attacked the other main contenders, calling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the night of the election, the American leader also announced a pardon for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for allegedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on a public platform. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his administration to advance economic growth and security in our region.”