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

Former President Trump-endorsed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency following a ballot tally that dragged on for nearly four weeks and was clouded by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the US president.

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

The election authority proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the examination of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to recount votes marked as “irregular”. The decision was criticised by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the Organization of American States, which deployed 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 [electoral council]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort undertaken by the councillors and the whole staff that ran the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla refused to concede and published a number of messages claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the figures from the original tally sheets were changed”.

The election board is composed of three councillors: 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 victory was declared only by the first two councillors.

The representative linked to the president’s party rejected the result, claimed that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the result will be challenged in court.

In its statement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the people of Honduras, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the full council of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate 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 recount was the latest in a string of controversies that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.

Days before the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other leading candidates, calling them socialists 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 supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been given 45 years in prison for allegedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his administration to promote economic growth and security in our region.”