Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed New President of the Central American Nation
Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a ballot tally that extended for nearly four weeks and was marred by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the US president.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The election authority declared a victor before completing the examination of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “irregular”. The decision was decried by defeated candidates and lamented by the OAS, which deployed an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the great work undertaken by the members and the entire team that ran the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla refused to concede and posted a number of messages alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.
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 candidate came in third place. Asfura’s win was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.
The member associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, alleged that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in court.
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 declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the recount was the most recent in a series of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.
Days before the vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he won, and attacked the other main contenders, 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 former Honduran president and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for allegedly establishing “a cocaine superhighway 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,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and looks forward to working with his government to advance economic growth and safety in our hemisphere.”
