Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New President of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that extended for almost a month and was marred by claims of irregularities and accusations of interference by the US president.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The election authority declared a victor before completing the review of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to recount votes flagged as “inconsistent”. The decision was criticised by defeated candidates and lamented by the OAS, which deployed an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the great work undertaken by the members and the entire team that administered the election. My fellow citizens: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla refused to concede and posted a number of messages alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the figures from the initial count sheets were altered”.
The electoral council is made up 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 candidate finished third. Asfura’s victory was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.
The representative linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the result, alleged that an “electoral coup” was under way and filed a legal challenge with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its statement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed freely 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 proclamation prior to the conclusion of the recount was the latest in a series of disputes that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as open interference by the US president.
Shortly prior to the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said 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 night of the election, the US president also announced a pardon for the former Honduran president and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for allegedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “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 collaborating with his government to advance economic growth and security in our hemisphere.”
