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

Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful 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 clouded by fraud allegations and criticism of meddling from the US president.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-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 proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the review of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to recount votes marked as “inconsistent”. The move was decried by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the Organization of American States, which sent an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the tremendous effort carried out by the councillors and the whole staff that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am prepared to lead. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.

Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a number of messages alleging fraud in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the figures from the original tally sheets were changed”.

The electoral council 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 win was declared only by the initial pair of councillors.

The representative linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the result, claimed that an “electoral coup” was taking place and lodged a complaint with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the result will be contested in the judiciary.

In its statement, the council said: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed freely at the ballot box, the full council 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 before the end of the review was the most recent in a series of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, starting with what many saw as open interference by the US president.

Days before the vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

On the night of the election, the US president also announced a pardon for the former Honduran president and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for allegedly creating “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and looks forward to working with his administration to advance prosperity and safety in our region.”