🔗 Share this article Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed Incoming Head of State 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 nearly four weeks and was marred by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the US president. The conservative Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 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 prior to finishing the examination of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “inconsistent”. The move was decried by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the Organization of American States, which deployed an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November. Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the great work undertaken by the members and the entire team that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he stated. Nasralla refused to concede and posted a number of messages claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were altered”. The electoral council is composed of three members: 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 victory was declared only by the initial pair of councillors. The representative associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, claimed that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the result will be contested in court. In its announcement, the council said: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the polls, the full council of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.” The declaration before the end 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 blatant meddling by the American head of state. Days before the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he won, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro. On the night of the election, the American leader also granted clemency 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 US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on a public platform. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his administration to advance prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”
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 nearly four weeks and was marred by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the US president. The conservative Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 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 prior to finishing the examination of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “inconsistent”. The move was decried by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the Organization of American States, which deployed an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November. Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the great work undertaken by the members and the entire team that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he stated. Nasralla refused to concede and posted a number of messages claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were altered”. The electoral council is composed of three members: 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 victory was declared only by the initial pair of councillors. The representative associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, claimed that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the result will be contested in court. In its announcement, the council said: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the polls, the full council of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.” The declaration before the end 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 blatant meddling by the American head of state. Days before the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he won, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro. On the night of the election, the American leader also granted clemency 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 US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on a public platform. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his administration to advance prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”