Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed New Head of State of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the winner of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that dragged on for nearly four weeks and was clouded by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the US president.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 votes.
The electoral council declared a victor prior to finishing the examination of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to re-tally votes marked as “inconsistent”. The move was decried by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which sent an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the tremendous effort undertaken by the members and the whole staff that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla refused to concede and posted a number of messages claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the data from the original tally sheets were changed”.
The electoral council is composed of three members: one affiliated with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate came in third place. Asfura’s win was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.
The member linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the result, claimed that an “stolen election” was under way and lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its statement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the polls, the plenary session of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional 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 recount was the latest in a series of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.
Shortly prior to the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he won, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the night of the election, the US president also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his administration to advance economic growth and safety in our region.”
