Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed Incoming Head of State of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a ballot tally that dragged on for nearly four weeks and was marred by fraud allegations and accusations of interference by the American leader.
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 votes.
The electoral council proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the review of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to re-tally votes flagged as “inconsistent”. The move was decried by defeated candidates and lamented by the OAS, which deployed an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the tremendous effort carried out by the councillors and the whole staff that administered the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted a series of statements alleging fraud in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.
The electoral council is made up of three members: one aligned with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose nominee finished third. Asfura’s victory was declared only by the first two councillors.
The member associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, claimed that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the outcome 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 plenary session of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term starting 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”
The declaration prior to the conclusion of the recount was the most recent in a string of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.
Days before the vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he won, and attacked the other leading candidates, calling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the American leader also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura ally 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,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and anticipates working with his administration to promote prosperity and safety in our region.”
