Trump-Backed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New President of Honduras

Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was marred by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the American leader.

The conservative 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 votes.

The electoral council proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the examination of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to recount votes marked as “irregular”. The decision was decried by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which deployed an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.

Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the tremendous effort undertaken by the members and the whole staff that administered the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla refused to concede and posted a number of messages claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.

The election board is made up 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 nominee finished third. Asfura’s win was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.

The member associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “electoral coup” was under way and filed a legal challenge with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the result will be challenged in the judiciary.

In its statement, the council declared: “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 legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”

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

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 leading candidates, labeling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.

On the eve of the election, the American leader also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on a public platform. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his government to advance economic growth and security in our region.”