Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New President of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that dragged on for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the US president.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 votes.
The electoral council declared a victor prior to finishing the review of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “inconsistent”. The decision was criticised by defeated candidates and lamented by the OAS, which deployed an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself president-elect. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the great work carried out by the members and the entire team that administered the election. My fellow citizens: 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 alleging fraud in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the data from the original tally 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 progressive president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate came in third place. Asfura’s victory was announced only by the first two councillors.
The representative linked to the president’s party rejected the result, alleged that an “electoral coup” was taking place and filed a complaint with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the outcome will be contested in court.
In its announcement, 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 ending on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the review was the latest in a string of disputes that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.
Shortly prior to the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other leading candidates, calling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the US president also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and anticipates working with his administration to advance prosperity and security in our region.”
