Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed New President of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the winner of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was clouded by fraud allegations 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, compared to 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 ballots.
The electoral council declared a victor prior to finishing the review of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to recount votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was decried by unsuccessful contenders 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 president-elect. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the great work undertaken by the members and the entire team that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am prepared to lead. 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 “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the figures from the initial count sheets were altered”.
The election board is composed of three members: one affiliated 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 victory was declared only by the initial pair of councillors.
The member associated with 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, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in court.
In its announcement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the full council of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term starting 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”
The declaration before the end of the recount was the latest in a series of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.
Shortly prior to the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other main contenders, labeling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the American leader also announced a pardon for the former Honduran president and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for allegedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his administration to promote prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”
