Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared 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 after a ballot tally that extended for nearly four weeks and was marred by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the American leader.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital city, 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 election authority declared a victor before completing the examination of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was decried by defeated candidates and lamented by the OAS, which deployed an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.

Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the great work carried out by the councillors and the entire team that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla refused to concede and published a series of statements alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the figures from the initial count sheets were changed”.

The electoral council is made up of three councillors: one affiliated 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 victory was declared only by the first two councillors.

The member linked to the president’s party rejected the result, claimed that an “electoral coup” was taking place and filed a complaint with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the result will be challenged in the judiciary.

In its announcement, the council said: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the polls, the plenary session of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term beginning on 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”

The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the recount was the latest in a series of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.

Shortly prior to the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them communists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

On the eve of the election, the US president also announced a pardon for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.

The US secretary of state, 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 administration to advance prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”