Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Declared Incoming President of Honduras

Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the victor of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was clouded by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the US president.

The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital, 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 declared a victor before completing the examination of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to recount votes marked as “inconsistent”. The move was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the OAS, which sent an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the great work carried out by the councillors and the entire team that administered the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla refused to concede and published a number of messages claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the original tally sheets were altered”.

The electoral council is composed of three members: one affiliated 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 announced only by the initial pair of councillors.

The representative linked to the president’s party rejected the outcome, claimed that an “stolen election” was taking place and lodged a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the result will be challenged in court.

In its announcement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, expressed sovereignly at the polls, the full council of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term beginning on 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”

The declaration prior to the conclusion of the review was the latest in a string of controversies 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 vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized 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 given 45 years in prison for allegedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on a public platform. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and looks forward to working with his administration to advance prosperity and security in our region.”