Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Declared Incoming Head of State of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a ballot tally that extended for nearly four weeks and was clouded by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the American leader.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate 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 votes.
The election authority declared a victor prior to finishing the review of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “irregular”. The move was criticised by unsuccessful contenders 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 members and the whole staff that administered the election. My fellow citizens: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted a number of messages alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were altered”.
The election board is made up 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 nominee finished third. Asfura’s win was announced only by the first two councillors.
The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a complaint with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the outcome will be contested in court.
In its statement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the plenary session of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the recount was the latest in a series of controversies that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.
Days before the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he won, and attacked the other main contenders, labeling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the American leader also granted clemency for the former Honduran president and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “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 spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and anticipates working with his administration to advance economic growth and safety in our hemisphere.”
