Former US President-Endorsed Contender Asfura Declared Incoming Head of State of the Central American Nation

Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that extended for nearly four weeks and was clouded by claims of irregularities and accusations of interference by the US president.

The conservative Asfura, 67, a building tycoon and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, obtained 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin 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 recount votes marked as “inconsistent”. The move was criticised by defeated candidates 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 president-elect. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the great work undertaken by the councillors and the whole staff that administered the election. Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not fail you. God bless Honduras,” he stated.

Nasralla refused to concede and posted a series of statements claiming manipulation in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the figures from the original tally sheets were changed”.

The election board is made up 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 came in third place. Asfura’s victory was announced only by the first two councillors.

The representative associated with the president’s party refused to recognise the outcome, claimed that an “stolen election” was under way and lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the outcome will be contested in the judiciary.

In its announcement, the council declared: “By the sovereign choice of the Honduran people, expressed freely at the polls, the plenary session of the CNE proclaims 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 string of disputes that marked the Central American country’s presidential race, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.

Days before the vote, Trump publicly backed Asfura, said 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 American leader also granted clemency for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura supporter Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for allegedly establishing “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.

The American top diplomat, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on a public platform. “The citizens of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ incoming leader,” stated Rubio. “The United States congratulates president-elect Asfura and anticipates working with his administration to promote economic growth and security in our region.”