Trump-Backed Contender Asfura Declared New Head of State of Honduras

Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a ballot tally that extended for almost a month and was marred by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the US president.

The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.

The election authority declared a victor before completing the examination of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to recount votes flagged as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the OAS, which sent an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.

Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the great work carried out by the members and the entire team that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla refused to concede and posted a series of statements claiming manipulation in the tallying procedure, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the figures from the original tally sheets were altered”.

The election board is made up 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 win was declared only by the initial pair of councillors.

The member associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the result, claimed that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in the judiciary.

In its statement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the polls, the plenary session of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term beginning on 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”

The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the recount was the latest in a series of disputes that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.

Days before the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he won, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, 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 allegedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and looks forward to working with his government to advance prosperity and safety in our hemisphere.”