Honduras Election on a Knife-Edge as Trump Influences Outcome

Fri Dec 05 2025 10:52:10 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

As ballots are counted in Honduras' presidential election, a close race unfolds between Salvador Nasralla and Nasry Asfura, amid allegations of foreign interference from the Trump administration.

In a tightly contested election in Honduras, Salvador Nasralla takes a slim lead over rival Nasry Asfura, while U.S. President Donald Trump openly supports Asfura, raising concerns about foreign influence. Political analysts caution that Trump's involvement undermines Honduran autonomy, as his favored candidate's win could shift the country's political landscape. Meanwhile, following a recent pardon from Trump, ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez has been released early from prison, further complicating the election narrative.

With a little over two-thirds of the ballots in the Honduras election tallied, the lead has changed hands. The former vice-president, Salvador Nasralla, has a small but potentially significant lead over his rival, the conservative former mayor of Tegucigalpa, Nasry Asfura. Yet Asfura's National Party continues to brief journalists that they have the numbers for an eventual win.

The race remains on a knife-edge. In Washington, President Donald Trump has staked his hopes on nothing less than an outright Asfura victory and has tried to directly influence the race in support of his favored candidate.

Whether it's been intimating that funds could be withheld from the impoverished Central American nation or making unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud, many in Honduras see the US president's fingerprints all over this election.

To Honduran political analyst, Josue Murillo, it smacks of the kind of treatment Honduras expected from Washington during the Cold War. No government should come here and treat us as a banana republic. That is a lack of respect, he states.

Irrespective of whether the National Party goes on to victory, one of their key figures is already celebrating. On Monday, ex-President Juan Orlando Hernandez walked out of jail in Virginia a free man after serving just one year of a 45-year sentence for drug-smuggling and weapons charges.

Hernandez's release came after Trump urged Honduran voters to cast their ballots for Asfura. His time in office had also been marred by allegations of serious human rights violations by the police and security forces, particularly against government critics.

Many Hondurans celebrated Hernandez's arrest as a rare moment of justice in a nation marked by institutional impunity. However, Trump has claimed that the former president was set up, stating, the people of Honduras really thought Hernandez was set up and it was a terrible thing.

Journalists who have covered Hernandez's political journey struggle to understand Trump's claims, noting Hernandez's enduring reputation as a controversial figure.

Hernandez’s wife, Ana Garcia Carias, publicly thanks influential conservative figures who played a role in securing her husband’s pardon from Trump. Meanwhile, as the ballots in Honduras continue to be tallied, the outcome of Trump's influence on this election remains uncertain, with implications for both nations.