Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared Incoming President of Honduras

Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the winner of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that extended for nearly four weeks and was clouded by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the US president.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 votes.

The electoral council proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the review of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to recount votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was decried by defeated candidates and lamented by the OAS, which sent an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself president-elect. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the tremendous effort undertaken by the councillors and the whole staff that administered the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.

Nasralla refused to concede and posted a series of statements claiming manipulation in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.

The election board is composed of three councillors: one aligned 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 member associated with the president’s party rejected the result, claimed that an “electoral coup” was taking place and filed a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the outcome will be contested in court.

In its statement, the council said: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, 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 four-year term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”

The proclamation before the end of the recount was the most recent in a string of disputes that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.

Shortly prior to the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other leading candidates, labeling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

On the eve of the election, the American leader also announced a pardon for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for allegedly establishing “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his administration to promote prosperity and security in our region.”