Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed Incoming President of the Central American Nation
Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the winner of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that extended for almost a month and was marred by claims of irregularities and accusations of interference by the American leader.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The election authority proclaimed a winner before completing the review of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The decision was decried by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the OAS, which sent an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the tremendous effort undertaken by the councillors and the entire team that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla refused to concede and posted a series of statements claiming manipulation in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.
The electoral council is made up of three members: one aligned with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the progressive president, Xiomara Castro, whose nominee came in third place. Asfura’s win was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.
The member associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, claimed that an “stolen election” was taking place and filed a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the result will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed sovereignly 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 starting 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 presidential race, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.
Days before the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the US president also granted clemency for the former Honduran president and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for allegedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and looks forward to working with his administration to advance economic growth and safety in our hemisphere.”
