Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared New President of the Central American Nation
Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a ballot tally that dragged on for almost a month and was clouded by fraud allegations and criticism of meddling from 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 margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The election authority declared a victor prior to finishing the review of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to re-tally votes flagged as “inconsistent”. The move was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the Organization of American States, which sent an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the great work undertaken by the members and the whole staff that administered the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted a number of messages 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 made up 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 win was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.
The representative linked to the president’s party rejected the outcome, claimed that an “electoral coup” was under way and filed a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the outcome will be contested in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the full council of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term starting 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”
The declaration before the end of the review was the latest in a string of controversies that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the US president.
Days before the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he won, and attacked the other leading candidates, calling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the US president also granted clemency for the former Honduran president and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for allegedly establishing “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his administration to advance economic growth and security in our region.”
