Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed New Head of State of the Central American Nation
Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a vote count that dragged on for nearly four weeks and was clouded by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the American leader.
The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 ballots.
The electoral council declared a victor prior to finishing the examination of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The decision was decried by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the OAS, which deployed an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.
Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the great work undertaken by the councillors and the entire team that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.
Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a series of statements claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the data from the original tally sheets were altered”.
The electoral council is composed 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 declared 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 filed a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the result will be challenged in court.
In its statement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the polls, the plenary session of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional 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 recount was the latest in a series of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.
Days before the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he won, and attacked the other leading candidates, calling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
On the night of the election, the US president also announced a pardon for the former Honduran president and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.
The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on a public platform. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his administration to promote economic growth and security in our region.”
