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

Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a vote count that extended for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the US president.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 votes.

The electoral council proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the review of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to recount votes flagged as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which sent an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort undertaken by the members and the entire team that ran the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted a series of statements claiming manipulation in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the data from the original tally 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 candidate came in third place. Asfura’s win was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.

The representative linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, claimed that an “stolen election” was under way and lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the outcome will be contested in the judiciary.

In its statement, the council said: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly 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 prior to the conclusion of the review was the latest in a series of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the US president.

Days before the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he won, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

On the eve of the election, the US president also announced a pardon for the former Honduran president and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on a public platform. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his government to advance prosperity and security in our region.”