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

Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and accusations of interference by the American leader.

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

The electoral council proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the review of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “inconsistent”. The decision was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the OAS, which deployed an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.

Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the great work carried out by the councillors and the whole staff that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. 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 tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the original tally sheets were altered”.

The election board is composed of three councillors: one affiliated with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose nominee came in third place. Asfura’s victory was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.

The member associated with the president’s party rejected the result, alleged that an “electoral coup” was taking place and lodged a complaint with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the result will be contested in court.

In its announcement, the council said: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the full council of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional 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 disputes that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.

Shortly prior to the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he won, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

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

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and looks forward to working with his government to advance prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”