Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a ballot tally that dragged on for nearly four weeks and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the American leader.
The rightwing 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 moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.
The electoral council proclaimed a winner before completing the examination 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 lamented by the OAS, which deployed an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.
Asfura has already declared himself president-elect. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the tremendous effort carried out by the members 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 refused to concede and published a number of messages alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the figures from the initial count sheets were altered”.
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 member linked to the president’s party rejected the outcome, claimed that an “stolen election” was taking place and lodged a legal challenge with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the result will be contested in court.
In its statement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice 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 beginning on 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”
The proclamation before the end of the review was the latest in a string of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.
Days before the vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, 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 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 citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and anticipates working with his administration to promote economic growth and safety in our region.”
