Trump-Backed Contender Asfura Proclaimed New Head of State of Honduras

Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the winner of Honduras’s presidential election following a vote count that extended for almost a month and was overshadowed by claims of irregularities and criticism of meddling from the American leader.

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

The electoral council proclaimed a winner before completing the review of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to re-tally votes flagged as “inconsistent”. The move was decried by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which sent an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.

Asfura has proclaimed himself as the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the tremendous effort undertaken by the members 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 series of statements claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, asserting that “the figures from the initial count sheets were altered”.

The electoral council is composed of three members: one aligned 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 initial pair of councillors.

The representative linked to the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, claimed that an “electoral coup” was taking place and filed a legal challenge with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the result will be challenged in the judiciary.

In its statement, the council said: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the plenary session of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term beginning on 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”

The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the recount was the latest in a string of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s presidential race, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.

Shortly prior to the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, said the US would back the next government only if he won, and criticized the other main contenders, 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 ex-leader of Honduras 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 American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and looks forward to working with his administration to advance prosperity and safety in our hemisphere.”