Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed Incoming Head of State of Honduras

Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a ballot tally that extended for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by claims of irregularities and criticism of interference by the US president.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 ballots.

The election authority proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the review of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to re-tally votes marked as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by defeated candidates and deplored by the Organization of American States, which sent an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself president-elect. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the tremendous effort carried out by the members and the entire team that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he stated.

Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a number of messages alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the figures from the original tally sheets were altered”.

The electoral council is made up of three members: one affiliated 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 initial pair of councillors.

The member linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the result, claimed that an “electoral coup” was taking place and lodged a complaint with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the outcome will be challenged in the judiciary.

In its announcement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the plenary session of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”

The declaration before the end of the recount was the latest in a string 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.

Days before the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other main contenders, calling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.

On the night of the election, the US president also announced a pardon for the former Honduran president and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for allegedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on a public platform. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and looks forward to working with his government to promote prosperity and safety in our hemisphere.”