Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed Incoming President of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the winner of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was overshadowed by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the US president.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 ballots.
The electoral council declared a victor before completing the review of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to recount votes marked as “inconsistent”. The move was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the OAS, which deployed an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the great work undertaken by the councillors and the whole staff that administered the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla refused to concede and published a series of statements alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the figures from the initial count sheets were changed”.
The election board is composed of three members: one affiliated 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 declared only by the initial pair of councillors.
The member associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the result, alleged that an “electoral coup” was under way and filed a complaint with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the result will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council said: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the polls, the plenary session of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the review was the latest in a series of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.
Days before the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he won, and criticized the other leading candidates, calling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the night of the election, the US president also announced a pardon for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for allegedly 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 made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and anticipates working with his government to promote economic growth and security in our region.”
