Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed New Head of State of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that extended for nearly four weeks and was clouded by claims of irregularities and accusations of interference by the American leader.
The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital city, 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 election authority declared a victor before completing the review of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to re-tally votes marked as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by defeated candidates and lamented by the OAS, which sent an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort undertaken by the members and the whole staff that administered the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla refused to concede and posted a series of statements claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the figures from the initial count sheets were altered”.
The election board is made up of three councillors: 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 declared only by the first two councillors.
The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, claimed that an “stolen election” was under way and filed a complaint with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in court.
In its announcement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the ballot box, the plenary session of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term beginning on 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”
The declaration before the end of the review was the most recent in a series of disputes that characterized 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 vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other main contenders, calling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, 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 given 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his government to advance prosperity and safety in our region.”
