Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed New Head of State of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the winner of Honduras’s presidential election following a ballot tally 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, secured 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 votes.
The election authority declared a victor prior to finishing the examination of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to recount votes flagged as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by defeated candidates and lamented by the OAS, which sent an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort undertaken by the councillors and the entire team that administered the election. My fellow citizens: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla refused to concede and posted a series of statements claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the figures from the original tally sheets were altered”.
The electoral council is composed of three councillors: one aligned with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate came in third place. Asfura’s victory was declared only by the first two councillors.
The member linked to the president’s party rejected the outcome, claimed that an “electoral coup” was under way and filed a legal challenge with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the result will be contested in court.
In its announcement, the council said: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the polls, the full council of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate 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 marked the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.
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, labeling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the American leader also granted clemency for the former Honduran president and Asfura supporter 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, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and anticipates working with his administration to promote economic growth and security in our hemisphere.”
