Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared New Head of State of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that extended for almost a month and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and accusations of interference by the US president.
The conservative 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 votes.
The electoral council proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the review of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to recount votes flagged as “inconsistent”. The decision was decried by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the Organization of American States, which deployed an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the tremendous effort carried out by the members and the whole staff that administered the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a number of messages claiming manipulation in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.
The electoral council is composed 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 finished third. Asfura’s victory was declared only by the first two councillors.
The member linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the result, alleged that an “electoral coup” was taking place and filed a complaint with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the outcome will be contested in the judiciary.
In its statement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the ballot box, the full council of the CNE declares 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 prior to the conclusion of the recount was the latest in a string of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning 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 leading candidates, labeling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the night of the election, the American leader also announced a pardon for the former Honduran president and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for allegedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his government to promote economic growth and safety in our hemisphere.”
