Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New Head of State of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a ballot tally that extended for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by claims of irregularities and criticism of meddling from the US president.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The electoral council proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the examination of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to re-tally votes marked as “inconsistent”. The decision was decried by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which deployed an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort carried out by the councillors and the entire team that administered the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted 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 composed 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 nominee came in third place. Asfura’s win was announced 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 taking place and filed a complaint 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 people of Honduras, expressed freely at the polls, the full council of the CNE proclaims 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 prior to the conclusion of the review was the latest in a string of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, starting with what many saw as open interference by the US president.
Shortly prior to the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other leading candidates, labeling them communists or allies 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 supporter 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 social media. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and anticipates working with his administration to promote economic growth and security in our region.”
