Nasry Asfura Declared Winner of Honduras Presidential Election Amid Controversy
Nasry Asfura, the National Party candidate backed by former US President Donald Trump, was declared the winner of Honduras's presidential election with 40.3% of the vote, according to the National Electoral Council. Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party received 39.5% of the vote. The election took place on 30 November, but the vote count faced delays due to technical outages; the real-time results portal crashed and approximately 15% of tally sheets were counted manually. Ana Paola Hall, president of the National Electoral Council, attributed the delay to unannounced maintenance by a private tabulation firm responsible for the count. The tensions following the election sparked protests across Honduras. Supporters of the Libre party in Tegucigalpa alleged fraud while outgoing President Xiomara Castro accused an electoral coup and interference from Donald Trump. Nine days after the vote, Nasralla accused corrupt actors of manipulating the count and stated that Trump's comments had damaged his chances. Trump had endorsed Asfura and warned of severe consequences if Asfura's lead was overturned. He also threatened to withdraw US financial support if Asfura did not win. Meanwhile, the US pardoned Juan Orlando Hernandez, a National Party member serving a 45-year sentence in the US on drug and weapons charges. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged respect for the election results and stated that the US would work with the incoming administration on bilateral and regional security, efforts to end illegal immigration, and strengthening economic ties.
