Trump-Backed Contender Asfura Declared Incoming Head of State of the Central American Nation

Donald Trump-backed hopeful Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the winner of Honduras’s presidential election after a ballot tally that dragged on for nearly four weeks and was clouded by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the American leader.

The conservative 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 declared a victor before completing the examination of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to recount votes marked as “irregular”. The move was criticised by defeated candidates and deplored by the Organization of American States, which sent an monitoring team to the poll held on 30 November.

Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “The nation, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the tremendous effort undertaken by the members and the entire team that administered the election. Honduras: I am prepared to lead. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he stated.

Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted a series of statements alleging fraud in the tallying procedure, 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 aligned 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 declared only by the first two councillors.

The member associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “electoral coup” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, opening the possibility 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 polls, the full council of the CNE declares 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 prior to the conclusion of the recount was the latest in a series of disputes that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as open interference by the American head of state.

Days before the vote, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other leading candidates, labeling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, 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 establishing “a major drug trafficking route to the United States”.

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on social media. “The people 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 working with his government to advance economic growth and security in our hemisphere.”