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

Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s presidential election after a ballot tally that extended for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by claims of irregularities and criticism of meddling from the American leader.

The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 votes.

The electoral council declared a victor prior to finishing the review of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was decried by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the OAS, which deployed an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself president-elect. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the tremendous effort carried out by the members and the entire team that administered the election. My fellow citizens: I am prepared to lead. 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 tallying procedure, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were altered”.

The election board 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 nominee came in third place. Asfura’s win was declared only by the initial pair of councillors.

The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the result, claimed that an “stolen election” was taking place and lodged a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the outcome will be contested in court.

In its announcement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the plenary session of the CNE declares 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 latest in a series of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.

Days before the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he won, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them communists or associates 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 given 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 a public platform. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and anticipates working with his administration to advance economic growth and security in our hemisphere.”