Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Declared New Head of State of the Central American Nation

Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the winner of Honduras’s presidential election following a ballot tally that extended for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and accusations of interference by the US president.

The conservative 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 margin of just 28,000 ballots.

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

Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the tremendous effort undertaken by the members and the whole staff that administered the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he stated.

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

The election board 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 victory was declared only by the first two councillors.

The member linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the result, claimed that an “electoral coup” was under way and filed a complaint with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the outcome 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 constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the presidential term beginning on 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”

The proclamation before the end of the review was the most recent in a string of controversies that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.

Shortly prior to the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other leading candidates, calling 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 former Honduran president and Asfura ally 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 citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his administration to promote prosperity and security in our region.”