Trump-Backed Contender Asfura Proclaimed Incoming President of Honduras

Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a ballot tally that extended for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and accusations of interference by the American leader.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former 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 electoral council proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the review of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to recount votes marked as “inconsistent”. The move was decried by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which deployed an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort carried out by the councillors and the entire team that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.

Nasralla refused to concede and posted a series of statements alleging fraud in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the figures from the initial count sheets were changed”.

The election board is composed 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 nominee came in third place. Asfura’s win was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.

The representative linked to the president’s party rejected the result, alleged that an “stolen election” was taking place and lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the result will be challenged in court.

In its announcement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the ballot box, the full council of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”

The declaration prior to the conclusion of the recount 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 American head of state.

Days before the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other main contenders, calling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

On the night of the election, the US president also announced a pardon for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on a public platform. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his administration to advance economic growth and security in our hemisphere.”