Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared New President of the Central American Nation
Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that extended for nearly four weeks and was clouded by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the American leader.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 ballots.
The election authority proclaimed a winner before completing the review of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to recount votes marked as “inconsistent”. The move 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. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the great work undertaken by the councillors and the entire team that ran the election. My fellow citizens: 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 alleging fraud in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the data from the original tally sheets were changed”.
The electoral council is made up of three members: one affiliated with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate finished third. Asfura’s victory was declared only by the initial pair of councillors.
The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the result, claimed that an “stolen election” was taking place and lodged a complaint with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the outcome will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its statement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed sovereignly at the polls, the plenary session 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 concluding on 27 January 2030.”
The declaration prior to the conclusion of the review was the most recent in a series of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.
Shortly prior to the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated 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 eve of the election, the US president also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and anticipates working with his government to advance prosperity and security in our region.”