Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed Incoming Head of State of Honduras

Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that extended for almost a month and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the American leader.

The conservative Asfura, 67, a building tycoon 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 margin of just 28,000 ballots.

The electoral council proclaimed a winner before completing the review of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “inconsistent”. The move was decried by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which deployed an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself president-elect. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the great work undertaken by the councillors and the entire team that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he stated.

Nasralla refused to concede and published 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 councillors: one aligned 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 victory was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.

The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the result will be challenged in the judiciary.

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

The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the recount was the most recent in a string of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the US president.

Shortly prior to the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other main contenders, calling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

On the night of the election, the American leader also granted clemency 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 US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and anticipates working with his administration to promote economic growth and security in our hemisphere.”