Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New President of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a ballot tally that extended for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and accusations of interference by 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 centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The election authority proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the examination of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by defeated candidates and deplored by the Organization of American States, which sent an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the great work undertaken by the members and the entire team that ran 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 alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the original tally sheets were changed”.
The electoral council 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 came in third place. Asfura’s victory was announced only by the first two councillors.
The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “electoral coup” was taking place and filed a complaint with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the outcome will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its statement, the council said: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the polls, the plenary session of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term starting 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”
The declaration prior to the conclusion of the review was the most recent in a string of disputes 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 election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said 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 granted clemency for the former Honduran president and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, 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 extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and anticipates working with his government to promote economic growth and safety in our region.”
