Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed Incoming Head of State of the Central American Nation

Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a vote count that extended for almost a month and was overshadowed by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the American leader.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.

The electoral council declared a victor before completing the examination of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to recount votes marked as “inconsistent”. The decision was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the OAS, 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 official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the great work carried out by the members and the whole staff that administered the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he stated.

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 original tally sheets were altered”.

The election board 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 finished third. Asfura’s win was announced only by the first two councillors.

The member linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, alleged that an “stolen election” was taking place and filed a complaint with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the outcome will be challenged in the judiciary.

In its statement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the ballot box, 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 concluding on 27 January 2030.”

The declaration before the end of the recount was the latest in a string of controversies that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as open interference by the US president.

Days before the vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other main contenders, calling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, congratulated 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 collaborating with his administration to advance prosperity and safety in our hemisphere.”