Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared Incoming Head of State of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the US president.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 votes.
The election authority proclaimed a winner before completing the review of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to recount votes marked as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which deployed an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the great work undertaken by the members and the entire team that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla refused to concede and published a series of statements alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the data from the original tally sheets were altered”.
The election board is composed of three councillors: one aligned 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 win was declared only by the first two councillors.
The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “stolen election” was under way and filed a legal challenge with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the outcome will be contested in court.
In its announcement, the council said: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the polls, 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 proclamation prior to the conclusion 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 blatant meddling by the American head of state.
Shortly prior to the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he won, and criticized the other leading candidates, calling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve 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 sentenced 45 years in prison for allegedly establishing “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, 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 extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and anticipates working with his government to advance prosperity and safety in our region.”
