Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New President of the Central American Nation
Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was marred by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the US president.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 votes.
The electoral council proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the examination of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was criticised by defeated candidates and lamented by the Organization of American States, which sent an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the great work carried out 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 wrote.
Nasralla refused to concede and published a series of statements claiming manipulation in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.
The electoral council is composed of three councillors: one affiliated with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the progressive president, Xiomara Castro, whose nominee finished third. Asfura’s victory was declared only by the initial pair of councillors.
The representative linked to the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the outcome will be contested in the judiciary.
In its statement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the ballot box, the plenary session of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation before the end of the review was the most recent in a string of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.
Shortly prior to the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other leading candidates, labeling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the US president also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for allegedly establishing “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and looks forward to working with his administration to advance prosperity and safety in our region.”
