Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Declared Incoming Head of State of Honduras

Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was overshadowed by claims of irregularities and criticism of meddling from the American leader.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 votes.

The electoral council declared a victor before completing the review of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to recount votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the Organization of American States, which sent an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself president-elect. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the great work carried out by the members and the whole staff that administered the election. My fellow citizens: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted a number of messages claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the figures from the initial count sheets were altered”.

The election board 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 nominee came in third place. Asfura’s win was announced only by the first two councillors.

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

In its statement, the council said: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, expressed freely 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 starting 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”

The proclamation before the end of the review was the latest in a string of controversies that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, starting with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.

Days before the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other leading candidates, labeling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.

On the eve of the election, the American leader also granted clemency 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 a public platform. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and anticipates working with his administration to advance prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”