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U.S. President Donald Trump-backed campaigner Nasry Asfura won Honduras' statesmanlike election, electoral authorities said connected Wednesday (December 24, 2025) afternoon, ending a weeks-long count that has whittled distant astatine the credibility of the Central American nation's fragile electoral system.
The predetermination is continuing Latin America's plaything to the right, coming conscionable a week aft Chile chose the far-right person José Antonio Kast arsenic its adjacent President.
Mr. Asfura, of the blimpish National Party, received 40.27% of the ballot successful the Nov 30 election, edging retired four-time campaigner Salvador Nasralla of the blimpish Liberal Party, who finished with 39.53% of the vote.
The erstwhile Mayor of Honduras' superior Tegucigalpa, won successful his 2nd bid for the presidency, aft helium and Mr. Nasralla were neck-and-neck during a weeks-long ballot number that fuelled planetary concern.
On Tuesday night, a fig of electoral officials and candidates were already warring and contesting the results of the election. Meanwhile, followers successful Mr. Asfura's run office erupted into cheers.
"Honduras: I americium prepared to govern," wrote Mr. Asfura successful a station connected X soon aft the results were released. “I volition not fto you down.”
The results were a rebuke of the existent leftist leader, and her governing antiauthoritarian socialist Liberty and Re-foundation Party, known arsenic LIBRE, whose campaigner finished successful a distant 3rd spot with 19.19% of the vote.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated Mr. Asfura connected Wednesday, penning connected a station connected X: "The radical of Honduras person spoken ... (the Trump administration) looks guardant to moving with his medication to beforehand prosperity and information successful our hemisphere."
A fig of right-leaning leaders crossed Latin America, namely Trump-ally Argentine President Javier Milei, besides congratulated the politician.
Mr. Asfura ran arsenic a pragmatic politician, pointing to his fashionable infrastructure projects successful the capital. Mr. Trump endorsed the 67-year-old blimpish conscionable days earlier the vote, saying helium was the lone Honduran campaigner the U.S. medication would enactment with.
Mr. Nasralla maintained the assertion that the predetermination was fraudulent connected Wednesday, saying electoral authorities who announced the results "betrayed the Honduran people."
On Tuesday night, helium besides addressed Mr. Trump successful a station connected X, writing: "Mr. President, your endorsed campaigner successful Honduras is complicit successful silencing the votes of our citizens. If helium is genuinely worthy of your backing, if his hands are clean, if helium has thing to fear, past wherefore doesn't helium let for each ballot to beryllium counted?"
He and different opponents of Mr. Asfura person maintained that Mr. Trump's last-minute endorsement was an enactment of electoral interference that yet swung the results of the vote.
The unexpectedly tumultuous predetermination was besides marred by a sluggish ballot count, which fuelled adjacent much accusations.
The Central American federation was stuck successful limbo for much than 3 weeks arsenic ballot counting by electoral authorities lagged, and astatine 1 constituent was paralysed aft a peculiar number of last ballot tallies was called, fuelling warnings by planetary leaders.
After expressing antiauthoritarian interest astir the deficiency of results days before, Organization of American States Secretary General Albert Ramdin wrote connected a station connected X connected Wednesday that the OAS "takes note" of the results announced and noted it is "closely pursuing events successful Honduras." It besides condemned electoral authorities for announcing the results portion the last .07% of votes were counted with specified razor-thin margins successful the election.
For the incumbent, progressive President Xiomara Castro, the predetermination marked a governmental reckoning. She was elected successful 2021 connected a committedness to trim unit and basal retired corruption.
She was among a radical of progressive leaders successful Latin America who were elected connected a hopeful connection of alteration astir 5 years agone but are present being formed retired aft failing to present connected their vision. Castro said past week that she would judge the results of the elections adjacent aft she claimed that Trump's actions successful the predetermination amounted to an "electoral coup."
But Eric Olson, an autarkic planetary perceiver during the Honduran predetermination with the Seattle International Foundation, and different observers said the rejection of Castro and her enactment was truthful definitive that they had small country to contention the results.
"Very fewer people, adjacent wrong LIBRE, judge they won the election. What they volition accidental is there's been fraud, that determination has been involution by Donald Trump, that we we should teardrop up the elections and ballot again," Mr. Olson said. "But they're not saying we won the elections.' It's beauteous wide they did not."
