Nasry Asfura Secures Victory in Controversial Honduras Presidential Election

Thu Dec 25 2025 03:46:57 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

In a fiercely contested election, Nasry Asfura, a candidate supported by former U.S. President Donald Trump, has been declared the winner amid allegations of fraud and technical delays.

Nasry Asfura of the National Party has won the presidency in Honduras with 40.3% of the vote, overcoming rival Salvador Nasralla. This election has been marred by delays and accusations of manipulation, prompting protests and a declaration of illegality by congressional leader Luis Redondo. U.S. officials emphasize the importance of a peaceful transition despite the tensions.

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, 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.

However, 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, stating they conducted maintenance without prior notice or checks with the CNE.

The stoppage came a day after the portal displaying real-time results had crashed. Results of the election were tight and, due to the tumultuous nature of the processing system, around 15% of the tally sheets had to be counted by hand for the winner to be decided.

Tensions in Honduras have escalated due to the delays, with protests held across the country last week by thousands of supporters of the governing Libre party, who claimed electoral fraud.

The outgoing President, Xiomara Castro, alleged that an electoral coup was occurring and that the election was marred by interference from Trump. When he endorsed Asfura for president, Trump warned there would be hell to pay if the narrow lead was overturned.

He also threatened to withdraw financial support from the US if Asfura didn't win. In a surprise, the US president pardoned Juan Orlando Hernandez, a member of Asfura's National Party, who was serving a 45-year jail sentence in the US on drug and weapons charges.

Xiomara Castro was barred by the constitution from standing for a second term.

Nine days after the vote, Nasralla accused corrupt people of manipulating the vote count in the Central American nation. He claimed Trump's comments damaged his chances of winning.

Following the announcement of the result, Rubio expressed that the US would look forward to working with his incoming administration to advance our bilateral and regional security cooperation, emphasizing a focus on illegal immigration to the United States while strengthening economic ties.