Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Declared New President of the Central American Nation
Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a ballot tally that dragged on for almost a month and was clouded by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the US president.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and former mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 votes.
The election authority declared a victor prior to finishing the review of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “inconsistent”. The decision was criticised by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which deployed an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “The nation, we now have the official declaration 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 prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a series of statements alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the figures from the original tally sheets were changed”.
The election board is composed of three councillors: 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 win was announced 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 complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the outcome will be contested in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council said: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the ballot box, the plenary session of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation before the end of the review was the latest in a series of disputes that marked 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 publicly backed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other leading candidates, labeling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the night of the election, the US president also granted clemency for the former Honduran president and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for allegedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his administration to promote prosperity and safety in our region.”
