Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Proclaimed Incoming President of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the winner of Honduras’s presidential election following a ballot tally that extended for almost a month and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the American leader.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate 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” initiated last week to re-tally votes marked as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which sent an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort carried out by the councillors and the whole staff that ran the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla refused to concede and published a series of statements alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the figures from the initial count sheets were changed”.
The electoral council is composed of three members: one aligned with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the progressive president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate finished third. Asfura’s win was announced only by the first two councillors.
The member associated with the president’s party rejected the result, claimed that an “stolen election” was taking place and lodged a legal challenge with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in court.
In its announcement, the council said: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the ballot box, the plenary session of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term beginning on 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the review was the latest in a string of controversies that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.
Days before the vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would back 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 American leader 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 creating “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, 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 government to advance economic growth and security in our hemisphere.”