Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared New President of the Central American Nation
Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the winner of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that extended for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the US president.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The electoral council declared a victor before completing the examination of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to recount votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and deplored 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 [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort carried out by the members and the entire team that ran the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted a number of messages alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the figures from the original tally sheets were changed”.
The electoral council is made up of three councillors: one aligned with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate came in third place. Asfura’s win was declared only by the initial pair of councillors.
The member linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, claimed that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in court.
In its statement, the council said: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the polls, the full council 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 ending on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the recount was the most recent 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, stated the US would back the next government only if he won, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the US president 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 a public platform. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his government to advance economic growth and safety in our region.”
