Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed Incoming President of Honduras

Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and criticism of meddling from the US president.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 votes.

The electoral council proclaimed a winner before completing the review of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was criticised by defeated candidates and deplored by the Organization of American States, which deployed an observation mission to the poll 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 carried out by the members and the entire team that administered the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a number of messages alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.

The electoral council is composed of three members: one affiliated with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate came in third place. Asfura’s win was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.

The member linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, alleged that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the outcome will be challenged in the judiciary.

In its announcement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, 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 presidential term beginning on 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”

The declaration prior to the conclusion of the recount was the latest in a string 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.

Days before the vote, Trump publicly backed 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 authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.

On the eve of the election, the American leader 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 establishing “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to 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 anticipates working with his government to promote prosperity and security in our region.”