Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Proclaimed Incoming President of the Central American Nation

Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was announced as the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was marred 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 city, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 votes.

The electoral council declared a victor before completing the examination of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes flagged as “irregular”. The decision was decried by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the OAS, which sent an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.

Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort undertaken by the councillors and the entire team that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he stated.

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

The election board is composed 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 nominee finished third. Asfura’s win was declared only by the initial pair of councillors.

The member associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “electoral coup” was taking place and filed a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility that the outcome will be contested in court.

In its statement, the council said: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, 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 presidential term beginning on 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”

The declaration before the end of the review was the most recent 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.

Shortly prior to the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said the US would support the next government only if he won, and attacked the other main contenders, calling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

On the night of the election, the US president also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on a public platform. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his administration to promote economic growth and security in our hemisphere.”