🔗 Share this article Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed Incoming President of the Central American Nation Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a ballot tally that dragged on for almost a month and was clouded by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the American leader. The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate 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 review of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to recount votes marked as “irregular”. The move was criticised by defeated candidates and lamented by the Organization of American States, which sent an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November. Asfura has already declared himself president-elect. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the tremendous effort undertaken by the councillors and the whole staff that administered the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated. Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a series of statements claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the original tally sheets were altered”. The electoral council is composed of three members: one aligned with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the progressive president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate finished third. Asfura’s win was declared only by the initial pair of councillors. The representative associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, claimed that an “stolen election” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the outcome will be contested in the judiciary. In its announcement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the ballot box, 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 prior to the conclusion of the review was the latest in a string of controversies 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 publicly backed Asfura, said 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 eve of the election, the American leader also announced a pardon for the former Honduran president and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and looks forward to working with his administration to advance prosperity and safety in our hemisphere.”
Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a ballot tally that dragged on for almost a month and was clouded by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the American leader. The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate 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 review of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to recount votes marked as “irregular”. The move was criticised by defeated candidates and lamented by the Organization of American States, which sent an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November. Asfura has already declared himself president-elect. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the tremendous effort undertaken by the councillors and the whole staff that administered the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated. Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a series of statements claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the original tally sheets were altered”. The electoral council is composed of three members: one aligned with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the progressive president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate finished third. Asfura’s win was declared only by the initial pair of councillors. The representative associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, claimed that an “stolen election” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the outcome will be contested in the judiciary. In its announcement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the ballot box, 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 prior to the conclusion of the review was the latest in a string of controversies 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 publicly backed Asfura, said 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 eve of the election, the American leader also announced a pardon for the former Honduran president and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and looks forward to working with his administration to advance prosperity and safety in our hemisphere.”