Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Declared Incoming President of Honduras

Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a vote count that extended for almost a month and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and criticism of meddling from the American leader.

The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.

The electoral council declared a victor before completing the review of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was decried by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the OAS, which deployed an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.

Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the great work carried out by the councillors and the whole staff that administered the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a number of messages claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the figures from the original tally sheets were altered”.

The electoral council is made up 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 first two councillors.

The member linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, alleged that an “electoral coup” was taking place and lodged a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the result will be contested in the judiciary.

In its announcement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the full council 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 concluding on 27 January 2030.”

The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the recount was the most recent in a series of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the US president.

Shortly prior to the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he won, and criticized the other leading candidates, calling them socialists 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 supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his government to advance prosperity and safety in our hemisphere.”