Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New President of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a ballot tally that extended for almost a month and was clouded by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the American leader.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The electoral council declared a victor before completing the review of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to re-tally votes marked as “irregular”. The move was decried by defeated candidates and lamented by the Organization of American States, which deployed an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort carried out by the members 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 declined to accept defeat and published a number of messages claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the figures from the original tally sheets were changed”.
The electoral council 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 candidate finished third. Asfura’s win was announced only by the first two councillors.
The representative associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, claimed that an “stolen election” was under way and filed a complaint with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in court.
In its statement, the council said: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the ballot box, the plenary session of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term beginning on 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”
The declaration before the end of the review was the latest in a series of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.
Days before the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other leading candidates, labeling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the night of the election, the American leader also granted clemency for the former Honduran president and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for allegedly creating “a major drug trafficking route 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’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and anticipates working with his government to promote prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”
