Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared Incoming Head of State of Honduras

Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the winner of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that extended for nearly four weeks and was clouded by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the American leader.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 ballots.

The election authority declared a victor prior to finishing the examination of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “inconsistent”. The move was criticised by defeated candidates and deplored by the Organization of American States, which sent an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort undertaken by the councillors and the whole staff that ran 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 posted a number of messages alleging fraud in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the figures from the initial count sheets were altered”.

The election board is made up of three members: one affiliated with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the progressive president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate came in third place. Asfura’s win was announced only by the first two councillors.

The member linked to the president’s party rejected the outcome, claimed that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the outcome will be challenged in the judiciary.

In its statement, the council said: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the polls, the full council of the CNE declares 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 prior to the conclusion of the review was the most recent in a string of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.

Days before the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other leading candidates, labeling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

On the eve 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 allegedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “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 looks forward to collaborating with his government to promote prosperity and safety in our region.”