Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Declared New President of Honduras

Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a vote count that extended for nearly four weeks and was clouded by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the US president.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital, 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 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 decision was decried by defeated candidates and lamented by the OAS, which deployed an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.

Asfura has proclaimed himself as president-elect. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I acknowledge the great work undertaken by the councillors and the entire team that administered the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla declined to accept defeat and published a series of statements claiming manipulation in the tallying procedure, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the figures from the initial count 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 leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose nominee came in third place. Asfura’s win was announced only by the first two councillors.

The representative linked to the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “stolen election” was under way and filed a legal challenge with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the result will be contested in the judiciary.

In its announcement, the council said: “By the sovereign choice of the people of Honduras, expressed freely 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 review was the latest in a series of controversies that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.

Shortly prior to the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated 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 night of the election, the US president also granted clemency for the former Honduran president and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 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 social media. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his administration to promote economic growth and safety in our region.”