🔗 Share this article Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New President of the Central American Nation Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that extended for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the US president. 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 votes. The election authority declared a victor before completing the review of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was decried by unsuccessful contenders 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. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort undertaken by the members and the whole staff that administered the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. 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 “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the figures 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 leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate finished third. Asfura’s win was declared only by the initial pair of councillors. The representative associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the result, claimed that an “electoral coup” was taking place and lodged a complaint with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the outcome will be challenged in court. In its statement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the plenary session of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term starting 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.” The declaration 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. Shortly prior to the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he won, and attacked the other leading candidates, labeling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro. On the night of the election, the US president 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 establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated 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 collaborating with his government to advance prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”
Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that extended for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the US president. 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 votes. The election authority declared a victor before completing the review of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was decried by unsuccessful contenders 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. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort undertaken by the members and the whole staff that administered the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. 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 “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the figures 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 leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate finished third. Asfura’s win was declared only by the initial pair of councillors. The representative associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the result, claimed that an “electoral coup” was taking place and lodged a complaint with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the outcome will be challenged in court. In its statement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the plenary session of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term starting 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.” The declaration 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. Shortly prior to the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he won, and attacked the other leading candidates, labeling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro. On the night of the election, the US president 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 establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated 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 collaborating with his government to advance prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”