Trump-Backed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New Head of State of Honduras

Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a ballot tally that dragged on for almost a month and was clouded by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the US president.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 votes.

The electoral council proclaimed a winner 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 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 proclaimed himself as president-elect. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the great work undertaken by the members and the entire team 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 published a number of messages alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the figures from the original tally sheets were altered”.

The election board 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 finished third. Asfura’s victory was declared only by the initial pair of councillors.

The representative associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the result, claimed that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the result will be contested 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 beginning on 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”

The declaration prior to the conclusion of the recount was the latest in a series of controversies 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 openly endorsed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other main contenders, calling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

On the eve of the election, the American leader also announced a pardon for the former Honduran president and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a major drug trafficking route 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’ 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 safety in our hemisphere.”