Former US President-Endorsed Candidate Asfura Declared New Head of State of the Central American Nation

Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a ballot tally that extended for almost a month and was overshadowed by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the US president.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital city, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, compared to 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a difference of just 28,000 votes.

The electoral council declared a victor before completing the review of all tally sheets under a “special scrutiny” initiated last week to recount votes flagged as “irregular”. The move was decried by unsuccessful contenders and deplored by the OAS, which deployed an monitoring team to the election held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself president-elect. “The nation, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [electoral council]. I recognise the tremendous effort carried out by the members and the whole staff 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 alleging fraud in the counting process, including “tampering with official records”, claiming that “the figures from the initial count sheets were altered”.

The election board is composed 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 finished third. Asfura’s win was announced only by the first two councillors.

The member associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, alleged that an “stolen election” was under way and lodged a legal challenge with the attorney general, raising the prospect that the result will be contested in the judiciary.

In its statement, the council said: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, expressed freely 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 ending on 27 January 2030.”

The proclamation prior to the conclusion of the recount was the latest in a series of controversies that characterized the Central American country’s election campaign, beginning with what many saw as blatant meddling by the US president.

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, calling them socialists or allies of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

On the night of the election, the American leader also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras 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 US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered congratulations to Asfura on a public platform. “The citizens of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States extends its congratulations to president-elect Asfura and anticipates collaborating with his administration to promote prosperity and safety in our hemisphere.”