Trump-Backed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New President of Honduras

Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s presidential election following a ballot tally that dragged on for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and criticism of meddling from the US president.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 ballots.

The election authority declared a victor prior to finishing the examination of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to recount votes marked as “irregular”. The move was decried by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the Organization of American States, which sent an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the great work carried out by the members and the entire team that administered the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he stated.

Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a series of statements alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the data from the original tally sheets were altered”.

The election board is made up of three members: one aligned 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 victory was declared only by the initial pair of councillors.

The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the result, alleged that an “electoral coup” was taking place and filed a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the outcome will be contested in court.

In its announcement, the council said: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the ballot box, 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 proclamation before the end of the recount was the latest in a series of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.

Shortly prior to the vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other main contenders, labeling them socialists or allies 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 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 social media. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his administration to promote prosperity and security in our region.”