In brief
Nasry Asfura of the National Party has emerged victorious in Honduras' presidential election, narrowly defeating Salvador Nasralla. Despite winning, Asfura's victory is marked by allegations of fraud and significant technical delays during the vote counting process. Calls for calm and respect for the results are made amid ongoing tensions.
Nasry Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras' razor-thin 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. Meanwhile, Nasralla stated at a press conference: I will not accept a result built on omissions, urging his supporters to remain calm.
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, claimed the result was completely illegal.
The vote was held on November 30, but the count was delayed twice by technical outages, with some tally sheets counted by hand due to processing issues.
Results were tight, and there have been protests across the country, with accusations of electoral fraud from the governing Libre party's supporters. Outgoing President Xiomara Castro has alleged interference in the election from Trump, who previously warned there would be hell to pay if Asfura's lead was overturned.
In a statement after the result was announced, Rubio noted the importance of advancing bilateral relations, emphasizing economic ties and addressing illegal immigration.
