Nasry Asfura Declared Winner of Honduras Presidential Election Amid Controversy

Thu Dec 25 2025 04:59:12 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Nasry Asfura, backed by Trump, has officially won Honduras's presidential election despite allegations of fraud and technical glitches during the vote counting process.

In a closely contested election, Nasry Asfura of the National Party has emerged victorious, claiming 40.3% of the votes against his rival Salvador Nasralla's 39.5%. The election was marked by significant delays and accusations of manipulation. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged a peaceful transition of power, while protests erupted nationwide over alleged electoral fraud. Asfura aims to govern effectively, stating he will not let the Honduran people down.

Nasry Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras's presidential election, after weeks of delays following technical problems and allegations of fraud.

The conservative National Party candidate - backed by US President Donald Trump - won with 40.3% of the vote, according to the National Electoral Council (CNE), edging out Salvador Nasralla of the centre-right Liberal Party, who got 39.5%.

In a post on X, Asfura said, Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged all parties to respect the result so that Honduran authorities may ensure a peaceful transition of authority.

But the president of the country's Congress, Luis Redondo, posted saying the result was completely illegal.

The vote was held on 30 November but the count was delayed twice by technical outages, which electoral officials called inexcusable.

The president of the CNE, Ana Paola Hall, blamed the private company tasked with tabulating the results for the delay, citing unannounced maintenance.

The stoppage came a day after the portal displaying real-time results had crashed.

Due to the tumultuous nature of the processing system, about 15% of the tally sheets had to be counted by hand for the winner to be decided.

Protests erupted across Honduras in response to the delays, with thousands of supporters of the governing Libre party demonstrating in the capital Tegucigalpa, accusing officials of election fraud.

The outgoing President, Xiomara Castro, claimed that an electoral coup was underway, alleging interference from Trump, who threatened to withdraw US financial support if Asfura did not win.

Amid these tensions, Trump also unexpectedly pardoned Juan Orlando Hernandez, a member of Asfura's National Party, who was serving a lengthy prison sentence in the US on drug and weapons charges.

Asfura's victory is seen as significant as Castro, who aimed for re-election, was barred by the constitution from standing a second term.

On December 9, days after the vote, Nasralla accused corrupt people of manipulating the count and claimed Trump's comments had undermined his campaign.

Following the announcement of results, Rubio expressed the US's eagerness to collaborate with Asfura's administration to enhance bilateral security cooperation, aiming to tackle illegal immigration and strengthen economic ties.