Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed New Head of State of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and criticism of meddling from the US president.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and former mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The election authority proclaimed a winner before completing the review of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was decried by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the OAS, which sent an observation mission 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 [electoral council]. I recognise the great work carried out by the members and the entire team that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted a series of statements claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the data from the original tally sheets were changed”.
The electoral council 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 nominee finished third. Asfura’s win was announced only by the first two councillors.
The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “stolen election” was under way and lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the outcome will be contested in the judiciary.
In its statement, the council said: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed sovereignly at the polls, the plenary session of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”
The declaration before the end of the review was the most recent in a string of disputes that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.
Days before the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other main contenders, calling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the US president also announced a pardon for the former Honduran president and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on a public platform. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and anticipates working with his government to advance prosperity and security in our region.”