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

Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the victor of Honduras’s race for the presidency after a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was overshadowed by claims of irregularities and accusations of meddling from the American leader.

The conservative Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 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 prior to finishing the review of all tally sheets under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to re-tally votes flagged as “inconsistent”. The decision was decried by unsuccessful contenders and lamented by the Organization of American States, which deployed an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the formal proclamation from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the tremendous effort carried out by the councillors and the whole staff that ran the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla refused to concede and published a series of statements alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, claiming that “the data from the original tally sheets were altered”.

The election board is made up of three councillors: one affiliated 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 announced only by the first two councillors.

The member associated with the president’s party rejected the outcome, claimed that an “electoral coup” was taking place and filed a complaint with the attorney general, opening the possibility that the outcome will be contested 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 proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah legitimate 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 presidential race, starting with what many saw as open interference by the US president.

Days before the election, Trump publicly backed Asfura, stated the US would back the next government only if he was victorious, and criticized the other main contenders, labeling them socialists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, 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 major drug trafficking route to the United States”.

The US secretary of state, 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 extends its congratulations to the elected president Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his government to advance economic growth and security in our region.”