Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Declared Incoming President of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was overshadowed by claims of irregularities and accusations of interference by the US president.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a building tycoon 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 declared a victor prior to finishing the review of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to recount votes marked as “irregular”. The move was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the OAS, which sent an monitoring team 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 acknowledge the great work carried out by the councillors and the entire team that administered the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
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 figures from the original tally sheets were changed”.
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 finished third. Asfura’s win was announced only by the first two councillors.
The representative linked to the president’s party rejected the result, claimed that an “electoral coup” was taking place and filed a legal challenge with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the outcome will be contested in the judiciary.
In its statement, the council said: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the polls, the plenary session 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 review was the most recent in a series of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.
Shortly prior to the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he won, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the American leader also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura supporter 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 social media. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and anticipates working with his government to advance economic growth and safety in our hemisphere.”
