Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Declared New Head of State of Honduras
Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a ballot tally that extended for almost a month 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, 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 electoral council declared a victor before completing the examination of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to recount votes marked as “inconsistent”. The move was criticised by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which deployed an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the tremendous effort undertaken by the councillors and the entire team that administered the election. My fellow citizens: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla refused to concede and published a number of messages claiming manipulation in the tallying procedure, 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 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 initial pair of councillors.
The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the result, alleged that an “electoral coup” was under way and filed a complaint with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the outcome will be challenged in court.
In its announcement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, 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 declaration prior to the conclusion of the recount was the latest in a string of disputes that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the US president.
Shortly prior to 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 communists 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 ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and anticipates working with his administration to promote prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”
