Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Declared Incoming Head of State of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and accusations of interference by the American leader.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 votes.
The election authority proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the review of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to recount votes flagged as “inconsistent”. The move was decried by defeated candidates and lamented by the OAS, which deployed an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself president-elect. “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 ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted a number of messages claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the data from the initial count sheets were altered”.
The electoral council is made up of three members: one aligned 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 declared only by the initial pair of councillors.
The member linked to the president’s party rejected the result, claimed that an “stolen election” was under way and lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the result will be contested in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council said: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the ballot box, the full council of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term beginning on 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation before the end of the review was the latest in a series of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the US president.
Shortly prior to the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other main contenders, labeling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the US president also announced a pardon for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his government to advance prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”
