Trump-Backed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New Head of State of the Central American Nation

Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the winner of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that dragged on for nearly four weeks and was marred by claims of irregularities and accusations of interference by the US president.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and former mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 votes.

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 “inconsistent”. The decision was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the Organization of American States, which sent an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the great work carried out by the councillors and the entire team that administered the election. My fellow citizens: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted a number of messages alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the figures from the initial count sheets were altered”.

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 nominee 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 result, claimed that an “stolen election” was under way and filed a legal challenge with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the outcome will be challenged in court.

In its announcement, the council said: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the full council of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term starting 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”

The declaration before the end of the recount was the most recent in a string of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.

Days before the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.

On the night 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 given 45 years in prison for allegedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on a public platform. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and anticipates working with his government to advance economic growth and safety in our hemisphere.”