Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed Incoming President of the Central American Nation

Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was overshadowed by claims of irregularities and criticism of interference by the American leader.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 votes.

The electoral council declared a victor before completing the review of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” initiated last week to recount votes marked as “irregular”. The move was decried by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which deployed an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. 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 let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a series of statements claiming manipulation in the tallying procedure, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.

The electoral council is composed 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 came in third place. Asfura’s win was declared only by the first two councillors.

The member associated with the president’s party rejected the result, claimed 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 challenged in court.

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

The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the recount was the most recent in a series of controversies that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.

Days before the vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he won, and criticized the other main contenders, calling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.

On the eve of the election, the American leader also announced a pardon for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for reportedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on a public platform. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and looks forward to working with his government to promote economic growth and security in our region.”