Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared Incoming President of the Central American Nation

Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was marred by claims of irregularities and criticism of interference by the US president.

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

The election authority declared a victor before completing the examination of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to recount votes flagged as “inconsistent”. The decision was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the OAS, 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 official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the great work carried out by the councillors and the entire team that administered 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 series of statements alleging fraud in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the figures from the initial count sheets were changed”.

The election board is made up of three councillors: one affiliated with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the progressive president, Xiomara Castro, whose nominee came in third place. Asfura’s win was declared only by the initial pair of councillors.

The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the result, alleged that an “electoral coup” was taking place and filed a legal challenge with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the result will be contested in the judiciary.

In its announcement, 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 concluding on 27 January 2030.”

The proclamation before the end of the review was the latest in a string of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.

Days before the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other main contenders, calling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, 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 sentenced 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “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 made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his administration to promote prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”