Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Declared New President of the Central American Nation

Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a vote count that extended for nearly four weeks and was clouded by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the US president.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate 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 votes.

The election authority proclaimed a winner before completing the examination of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to recount votes marked as “irregular”. The move was decried by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the Organization of American States, which sent 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 [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the great work carried out by the members and the entire team that administered the election. My fellow citizens: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a series of statements claiming manipulation in the tallying procedure, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the figures from the initial count sheets were changed”.

The electoral council is made up of three councillors: one affiliated with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose nominee came in third place. Asfura’s win was announced only by the first two councillors.

The representative associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the result, claimed that an “stolen election” was under way and filed a complaint with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the outcome will be contested in court.

In its announcement, the council said: “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 starting 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”

The declaration before the end of the review was the latest in a series of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.

Shortly prior to the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

On the night of the election, the US president also announced a pardon for the former Honduran president and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and anticipates working with his government to advance prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”