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

Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a ballot tally that dragged on for nearly four weeks and was clouded by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the US president.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-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 review of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to recount votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was decried by defeated candidates and deplored by the Organization of American States, which deployed an monitoring team to the election 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 undertaken by the members and the whole staff that administered the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.

Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a series of statements alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.

The electoral council is composed 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 candidate finished third. Asfura’s victory was declared only by the initial pair of councillors.

The member associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, claimed that an “stolen election” was taking place and filed a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the outcome will be challenged in court.

In its announcement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the polls, the full council of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term beginning on 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”

The proclamation before the end of the review was the most recent in a string of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, starting with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.

Days before the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he won, and attacked the other main contenders, labeling them socialists or allies 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 supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and looks forward to working with his government to promote economic growth and security in our hemisphere.”