Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Declared Incoming Head of State of Honduras

Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was marred by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the US president.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 ballots.

The election authority declared a victor prior to finishing the examination of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to re-tally votes marked as “inconsistent”. The move was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the OAS, which sent an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself president-elect. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort undertaken by the councillors and the whole staff that administered the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

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

The election board is made up of three members: one affiliated with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the progressive president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate finished third. Asfura’s win was announced only by the first two councillors.

The member linked to the president’s party rejected the result, claimed that an “stolen election” was taking place and lodged a complaint with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the outcome will be contested in the judiciary.

In its announcement, the council said: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed sovereignly at the polls, the full council of the CNE proclaims 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 declaration before the end of the recount was the latest in a string of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.

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 socialists or allies of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.

On the night of the election, the American leader also granted clemency for the former Honduran president and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for allegedly establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “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 government to promote economic growth and safety in our region.”