Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Declared New 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 almost a month and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and accusations of meddling from the American leader.

The rightwing 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 votes.

The election authority proclaimed a winner prior to finishing the review of all vote records under a “special scrutiny” launched last week to re-tally votes flagged as “inconsistent”. 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 proclaimed himself as president-elect. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I recognise the tremendous effort carried out by the members and the entire team that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla refused to concede and published a series of statements alleging fraud in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the data from the initial count sheets were altered”.

The electoral council is made up of three councillors: one aligned with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the leftist president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate came in third place. Asfura’s win was declared only by the first two councillors.

The representative associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, alleged that an “electoral coup” was taking place and filed a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the outcome will be contested in court.

In its statement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the polls, the full council of the CNE declares Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term starting 27 January 2026 and concluding on 27 January 2030.”

The proclamation before the end of the recount was the latest in a string of disputes that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as open interference by the US president.

Shortly prior to the vote, Trump publicly backed 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 authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro.

On the night of the election, the US president also announced a pardon for the former Honduran president and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on social media. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and anticipates working with his government to promote economic growth and security in our hemisphere.”