Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Declared New President of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a ballot tally that dragged on for almost a month and was clouded by claims of irregularities and criticism of interference by the American leader.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 ballots.
The electoral council declared a victor before completing the examination of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “inconsistent”. The decision was decried by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which deployed an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the tremendous effort carried out by the councillors and the entire team that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a number of messages alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the figures from the initial count sheets were changed”.
The election board is composed of three members: one aligned with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose nominee came in third place. Asfura’s victory was declared only by the first two councillors.
The representative linked to the president’s party rejected the result, alleged that an “stolen election” was taking place and lodged a complaint with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the result will be contested in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the ballot box, the plenary session of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year 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 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, said the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other leading candidates, labeling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the American leader also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his government to advance economic growth and safety in our region.”