🔗 Share this article Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared New President of the Central American Nation Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a ballot tally that extended for nearly four weeks and was clouded by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the US president. The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots. The electoral council proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the review of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by defeated candidates and lamented by the Organization of American States, 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 recognise the great work carried out by the councillors and the whole staff that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. 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 figures from the original tally sheets were altered”. 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 finished third. Asfura’s victory was announced only by the first two councillors. The member linked to the president’s party rejected the outcome, claimed that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in court. In its statement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, 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 starting 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.” The proclamation before the end of the review 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 US president. Days before the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he won, and criticized the other leading candidates, calling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro. On the night 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 allegedly 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 people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and looks forward to working with his government to promote prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”
Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a ballot tally that extended for nearly four weeks and was clouded by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the US president. The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots. The electoral council proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the review of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by defeated candidates and lamented by the Organization of American States, 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 recognise the great work carried out by the councillors and the whole staff that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. 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 figures from the original tally sheets were altered”. 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 finished third. Asfura’s victory was announced only by the first two councillors. The member linked to the president’s party rejected the outcome, claimed that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in court. In its statement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, 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 starting 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.” The proclamation before the end of the review 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 US president. Days before the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he won, and criticized the other leading candidates, calling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro. On the night 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 allegedly 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 people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and looks forward to working with his government to promote prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”