Trump-Backed Contender Asfura Declared New Head of State of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a ballot tally that extended for nearly four weeks and was marred by claims of irregularities and accusations of interference by the US president.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 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 tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The decision was decried by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the Organization of American States, which deployed an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort undertaken by the councillors and the whole staff that administered the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted a number of messages alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “tampering with official records”, 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 candidate finished third. 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 “electoral coup” was under way and filed a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its statement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the full council of the CNE declares 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 proclamation prior to the conclusion of the review was the most recent in a series of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning 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 back the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other leading candidates, labeling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the American leader also announced a pardon for the former Honduran president and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his administration to promote economic growth and security in our hemisphere.”
