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

Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a ballot tally that extended for almost a month and was marred by fraud allegations and accusations of interference by 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 difference of just 28,000 votes.

The election authority declared a victor prior to finishing the examination of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “irregular”. The move was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the Organization of American States, which sent an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.

Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the great work undertaken by the councillors and the entire team that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.

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

The electoral council is composed 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 declared only by the first two councillors.

The representative associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the result, claimed that an “stolen election” was taking place and filed a complaint with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the result will be contested in court.

In its statement, the council said: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the ballot box, the full council of the CNE proclaims 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 proclamation before the end of the recount was the latest in a string of controversies that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, starting with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.

Shortly prior to the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he won, and attacked the other leading candidates, labeling them communists or associates 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 sentenced 45 years in prison for allegedly creating “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 made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and anticipates working with his administration to promote prosperity and safety in our hemisphere.”