Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New Head of State of Honduras
Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that dragged on for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the US president.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The electoral council declared a victor prior to finishing the examination of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to re-tally votes marked as “irregular”. The move was decried by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the OAS, which sent an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the great work undertaken by the members and the whole staff that administered the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he stated.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a series of statements claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the data from the original tally sheets were changed”.
The election board is composed of three members: one affiliated with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate came in third place. Asfura’s victory was announced only by the first two councillors.
The member linked to the president’s party rejected the outcome, claimed that an “electoral coup” was taking place and filed a legal challenge with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the result will be challenged in the judiciary.
In its announcement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the polls, the full council of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term beginning on 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the recount was the latest in a string of controversies that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.
Days before 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, labeling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.
On the eve of the election, the US president also announced a pardon for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his government to promote prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”
