Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Proclaimed Incoming President of the Central American Nation
Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a vote count that extended for almost a month and was marred by claims of irregularities and accusations of interference by the American leader.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and former mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 votes.
The election authority declared a victor prior to finishing the review of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “inconsistent”. The decision was decried by defeated candidates and lamented by the Organization of American States, which deployed an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort carried out by the members and the entire team that ran the election. Honduras: 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 tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the figures from the initial count sheets were altered”.
The electoral council is composed of three members: 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 win was declared only by the first two councillors.
The member associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the result will be contested in court.
In its announcement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the full council of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term starting 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”
The declaration prior to the conclusion of the review was the latest in a series of controversies that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.
Days before the vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated the US would support 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 eve of the election, the American leader also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his government to promote economic growth and security in our region.”