Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Declared New Head of State of the Central American Nation

Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a vote count that dragged on for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by claims of irregularities and accusations of interference by the US president.

The conservative Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.

The election authority declared a victor prior to finishing the examination of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to re-tally votes marked as “irregular”. The move was decried by defeated candidates and deplored by the Organization of American States, which deployed an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the great work carried out by the councillors and the whole staff that ran the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted a number of messages alleging fraud in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.

The electoral council 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 candidate finished third. Asfura’s win was announced only by the initial pair of councillors.

The member associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, alleged that an “electoral coup” was taking place and lodged a legal challenge 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 majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the polls, the full council of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”

The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the review was the latest in a string of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.

Days before the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he won, and criticized the other leading candidates, calling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

On the night of the election, the American leader also granted clemency for the former Honduran president and Asfura ally 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 social media. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and looks forward to working with his government to promote prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”