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

Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the victor of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that extended for almost a month and was clouded by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the US president.

The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 votes.

The electoral council declared a victor before completing the review of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to recount votes flagged as “inconsistent”. The move was criticised by defeated candidates and deplored by the Organization of American States, which sent an observation mission to the poll held on 30 November.

Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort undertaken by the members and the entire team that administered 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 number of messages claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the figures 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 came in third place. Asfura’s victory was declared only by the first two councillors.

The member associated with the president’s party rejected the result, alleged 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 contested in court.

In its announcement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the polls, the plenary session of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”

The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the review was the most recent in a string of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the US president.

Days before the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other main contenders, calling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.

On the night of the election, the US president also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for allegedly establishing “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said 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.”