Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Declared Incoming Head of State of the Central American Nation
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the winner of Honduras’s presidential election following a ballot tally that extended for almost a month and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the American leader.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The electoral council declared a victor before completing the review of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to re-tally votes marked as “inconsistent”. The decision was decried by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the Organization of American States, which deployed an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort undertaken by the members and the entire team that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla refused to concede and published a number of messages alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were altered”.
The election board is made up 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 nominee came in third place. Asfura’s win was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.
The member linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, alleged that an “stolen election” was taking place and lodged 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 people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the plenary session of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term beginning on 27 January 2026 and concluding 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 presidential race, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.
Days before the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he won, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the American leader also announced a pardon for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for allegedly creating “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and looks forward to working with his administration to advance economic growth and safety in our region.”
