Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New Head of State of Honduras

Donald Trump-backed 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 overshadowed by claims of irregularities and accusations of interference by the US president.

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 centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 votes.

The electoral council proclaimed a winner before completing the examination of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to recount votes marked as “inconsistent”. The decision was decried by defeated candidates and lamented by the Organization of American States, which sent an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort undertaken by the councillors and the whole staff that ran the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a number of messages alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the data from the original tally sheets were altered”.

The electoral council is made up of three councillors: one aligned with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the progressive president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate finished third. Asfura’s victory was declared only by the first two councillors.

The member associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “stolen election” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the result will be contested in the judiciary.

In its announcement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the polls, the plenary session of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term starting 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”

The proclamation before the end of the review was the latest in a series of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, starting with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.

Days before the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he won, and attacked the other main contenders, labeling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.

On the eve of the election, the American leader also announced a pardon for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for allegedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on a public platform. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and anticipates working with his administration to advance economic growth and safety in our region.”