Trump-backed conservative candidate Nasry Asfura wins Honduras election, runner-up Nasralla rejects results

Nasry Asfura, a conservative businessman, who was backed by US President Donald Trump, has been declared winner of the Honduran presidential vote. Liberal Party contender Salvador Nasralla rejected the results in a press conference, but urged his supporters to avoid confrontation. The national electoral council CNE said that the 67-year-old son of Palestinian immigrants defeated fellow conservative TV personality Salvador Nasralla by less than one percentage point. Asfura's victory marks the return of the right wing to power in one of Latin America's poorest countries after four years of leftist Xiomara Castro's presidency. Asfura was backed by US President Donald Trump, who had even threatened to cut funds for the Latin American nation if Nasralla wins. Asfura will take office on January 27. The result was announced more than three weeks after the November 30 election.

In a post on X, Asfura said, “Honduras: I'm ready to govern. I won't let you down.” The United States welcomed the election of Asfura. "We look forward to working with his incoming administration to advance our bilateral and regional security cooperation, end illegal immigration to the United States, and strengthen the economic ties between our two countries," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. Following the lengthy counting process in the Central American country's election, Rubio called on all sides to “respect the confirmed results so that Honduran authorities may swiftly ensure a peaceful transition of authority.” Argentina's President Javier Milei, a Trump ally, said on X that the Honduras vote amounted to "a resounding defeat of narco-socialism."

Rejecting the result, Nasralla vowed not to accept the flawed process in which the President was chosen. However, Nasralla urged his supporters to avoid confrontation. Asfura, who is the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, received Trump's endorsement, saying they could "work together to fight the narcocommunists," and warned "there will be hell to pay" if the conservative candidate's razor-thin lead was overturned in the count. Moreover, on the eve of the election, Trump in a surprise move, pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, a member of Asfura's party who was serving a 45-year prison sentence in the United States for drug trafficking.