Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed New President of the Central American Nation
Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the winner of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that extended for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by claims of irregularities and criticism of interference by the American leader.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-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 election authority proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the review of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes flagged as “inconsistent”. The move was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the Organization of American States, which sent an monitoring team to the election 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 great work undertaken by the councillors and the entire team that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla refused to concede and published a number of messages alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the figures from the initial count sheets were altered”.
The electoral council is composed 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 nominee came in third place. Asfura’s victory was declared only by the first two councillors.
The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the result, alleged that an “stolen election” was taking place and filed a complaint with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the outcome will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, expressed freely 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 beginning on 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the review was the latest in a series of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the US president.
Days before the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the US president also announced a pardon for the former Honduran president and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his administration to advance prosperity and security in our region.”
