Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Declared New President of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a ballot tally that dragged on for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the American leader.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 votes.
The election authority declared a victor before completing the examination of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was decried by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the OAS, which sent an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort carried out by the members and the whole staff that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a series of statements alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the original tally sheets were changed”.
The election board is made up 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 announced only by the first two councillors.
The representative linked to the president’s party rejected the result, claimed that an “stolen election” was under way and filed a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the result will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its statement, 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 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 latest in a series of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.
Shortly prior to the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he won, and attacked the other main contenders, calling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the night of the election, the American leader also announced a pardon for the former Honduran president and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for allegedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his government to advance prosperity and safety in our region.”