Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared New President of Honduras

Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a vote count that extended for almost a month and was clouded by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the American leader.

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

The electoral council proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the examination of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was decried by defeated candidates and deplored by the Organization of American States, which sent an monitoring team 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 acknowledge the tremendous effort carried out by the councillors and the whole staff that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he stated.

Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a number of messages alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the figures from the initial count sheets were changed”.

The election board is composed of three councillors: one aligned 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 win was declared only by the initial pair of councillors.

The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the result, alleged that an “electoral coup” was taking place and lodged a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the outcome will be contested in court.

In its announcement, the council said: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, 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 beginning on 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”

The proclamation before the end of the recount was the most recent in a series of controversies that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the US president.

Shortly prior to the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he won, and attacked the other main contenders, calling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, 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 sentenced 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 a public platform. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and anticipates working with his government to advance prosperity and safety in our region.”