Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New President of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a ballot tally that extended for almost a month and was clouded by fraud allegations and accusations of interference by the American leader.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The election authority declared a victor before completing the examination of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to recount votes marked as “irregular”. The decision was decried by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which deployed an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the great work carried out by the councillors and the whole staff that administered the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a number of messages alleging fraud in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the figures from the initial count sheets were altered”.
The election board is made up of three councillors: 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 win was announced only by the first two councillors.
The member associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the result, claimed that an “electoral coup” was taking place and lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the outcome will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its statement, the council said: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the ballot box, the plenary session of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term starting 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”
The declaration before the end of the recount was the latest in a string of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, starting 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 back the next government only if he won, and attacked the other leading candidates, labeling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the American leader also granted clemency for the former Honduran president and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for allegedly creating “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and looks forward to working with his government to promote prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”