Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New Head of State of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a ballot tally that extended for almost a month and was marred by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the American leader.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The electoral council declared a victor prior to finishing the review of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to re-tally votes marked as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by defeated candidates and lamented by the OAS, which deployed an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the great work carried out by the councillors and the whole staff that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted a series of statements alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the figures 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 progressive president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate came in third place. Asfura’s victory was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.
The member linked to the president’s party rejected the outcome, claimed that an “stolen election” was under way and filed a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the outcome will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council said: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed freely 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 recount was the latest in a string of disputes 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 openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would back 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 former Honduran president and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for allegedly creating “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’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his administration to promote prosperity and safety in our hemisphere.”
