Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New Head of State of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a vote count that dragged on for nearly four weeks and was marred by fraud allegations and accusations of interference by the American leader.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 votes.
The election authority declared a victor prior to finishing the review of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to recount votes flagged as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by defeated candidates and deplored by the Organization of American States, which deployed an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the great work undertaken by the councillors and the whole staff that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla refused to concede and posted a series of statements alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.
The election board is made up 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 announced only by the first two councillors.
The member associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, claimed that an “stolen election” was under way and lodged a complaint with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the result will be challenged in court.
In its announcement, the council said: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed sovereignly at the polls, the plenary session of the CNE proclaims 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 declaration before the end of the review was the most recent in a series of disputes that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the US president.
Days before the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he won, and criticized the other main contenders, calling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the night of the election, the US president also announced a pardon for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and anticipates working with his government to promote prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”
