Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Declared New President of the Central American Nation

Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that extended for almost a month and was clouded by claims of irregularities and criticism of meddling from the US president.

The conservative 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 centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 ballots.

The electoral council proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the examination of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to recount votes flagged as “inconsistent”. The move was decried by defeated candidates 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 formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the tremendous effort carried out by the councillors and the entire team that administered the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla refused to concede and published a series of statements alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.

The electoral council is composed 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 came in third place. Asfura’s victory was announced only by the first two councillors.

The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “stolen election” was taking place and lodged a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the result will be contested in court.

In its announcement, the council said: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the plenary session of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term starting 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”

The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the recount was the most recent in a series of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.

Days before the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other main contenders, labeling them socialists or associates 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 ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “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 working with his government to promote economic growth and safety in our region.”