Trump-Backed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New Head of State of the Central American Nation
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the victor of Honduras’s presidential election after a ballot tally that extended for almost a month and was overshadowed by claims of irregularities and criticism of interference by the American leader.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 ballots.
The electoral council proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the examination of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to recount votes marked as “irregular”. The move was decried by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the OAS, which deployed an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the great work undertaken by the councillors and the entire team that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla refused to concede and posted a number of messages claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.
The election board is composed of three councillors: one affiliated with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate finished third. Asfura’s win was declared only by the initial pair of councillors.
The member associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the result, claimed that an “electoral coup” was taking place and filed a complaint with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the outcome will be challenged in court.
In its announcement, the council said: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the polls, the plenary session of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term beginning on 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation before the end of the review was the most recent in a string of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as open interference by the US president.
Days before the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other main contenders, labeling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the night 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 creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and looks forward to working with his government to advance economic growth and security in our region.”
