Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared New President of Honduras

Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the winner of Honduras’s presidential election after a ballot tally that dragged on for almost a month and was marred by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the US president.

The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 votes.

The electoral council proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the review of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the OAS, which deployed an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the tremendous effort carried out by the councillors and the whole staff 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 posted a number of messages claiming manipulation in the tallying procedure, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the figures from the original tally sheets were changed”.

The electoral council is made up of three members: one aligned 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 declared 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 filed a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in court.

In its announcement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the ballot box, the plenary session of the CNE proclaims 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 review was the most recent in a string of disputes that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.

Shortly prior to the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other leading candidates, calling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

On the night of the election, the American leader also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for allegedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and anticipates working with his government to promote economic growth and safety in our hemisphere.”