Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Declared Incoming President of the Central American Nation

Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a ballot tally that extended for nearly four weeks and was clouded by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the US president.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 ballots.

The election authority proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the examination of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the Organization of American States, which sent an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.

Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort undertaken 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 stated.

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

The electoral council is composed of three councillors: one aligned with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate came in third place. Asfura’s win was declared only by the first two councillors.

The representative linked to the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “electoral coup” was taking place and filed a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the outcome will be challenged in court.

In its announcement, the council declared: “By the majority will 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 four-year term beginning on 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”

The declaration before the end of the review was the latest in a series of disputes that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, starting 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 was victorious, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, 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 establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his government to advance economic growth and safety in our hemisphere.”