Trump-Backed Asfura Wins Honduras Vote 12/26 06:11

   

   TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) -- Trump-backed candidate Nasry Asfura won 
Honduras' presidential election, electoral authorities said Wednesday 
afternoon, ending a weeks-long count that has whittled away at the credibility 
of the Central American nation's fragile electoral system.

   The election is continuing Latin America's swing to the right, coming just a 
week after Chile chose the far-right politician Jos Antonio Kast as its next 
president.

   Asfura, of the conservative National Party, received 40.27% of the vote in 
the Nov. 30 vote, edging out four-time candidate Salvador Nasralla of the 
conservative Liberal Party, who finished with 39.53% of the vote.

   Honduras' president-elect

   The former mayor of Honduras' capital Tegucigalpa, won in his second bid for 
the presidency, after he and Nasralla were neck-and-neck during a weeks-long 
vote count that fueled international concern.

   On Tuesday night a number of electoral officials and candidates were already 
fighting and contesting the results of the election. Meanwhile, followers in 
Asfura's campaign headquarters erupted into cheers.

   Asfura, in a video statement released late Wednesday night, promised to be a 
unifying force for the Central American nation.

   "Today, with deep gratitude, I accept the honor of being able to work for 
you. I extend my hand so we can walk together with determination to work 
tirelessly for Honduras. I will not fail you," he said.

   The results were a rebuke of the current leftist leader, and her governing 
democratic socialist Liberty and Re-foundation Party, known as LIBRE, whose 
candidate finished in a distant third place with 19.19% of the vote.

   Trump takes a spotlight in Honduras

   Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated Asfura on Wednesday, writing on 
a post on X: "The people of Honduras have spoken ... (the Trump administration) 
looks forward to working with his administration to advance prosperity and 
security in our hemisphere."

   The European Union and a number of right-leading leaders across Latin 
America, namely Trump-ally Argentine President Javier Milei, also congratulated 
the politician.

   Asfura ran as a pragmatic politician, pointing to his popular infrastructure 
projects in the capital. Trump endorsed the 67-year-old conservative just days 
before the vote, saying he was the only Honduran candidate the U.S. 
administration would work with.

   Nasralla has for weeks alleged the election was fraudulent, and said 
Wednesday that electoral authorities who announced the results "betrayed the 
Honduran people."

   On Tuesday night, he also addressed Trump in a post on X, writing: "Mr. 
President, your endorsed candidate in Honduras is complicit in silencing the 
votes of our citizens. If he is truly worthy of your backing, if his hands are 
clean, if he has nothing to fear, then why doesn't he allow for every vote to 
be counted?"

   He and other opponents of Asfura have maintained that Trump's last-minute 
endorsement was an act of electoral interference that ultimately swung the 
results of the vote.

   A chaotic election

   The unexpectedly tumultuous election was also marred by a sluggish vote 
count, which fueled even more accusations.

   The Central American nation was stuck in limbo for more than three weeks as 
vote counting by electoral authorities lagged, and at one point was paralyzed 
after a special count of final vote tallies was called, fueling warnings by 
international leaders.

   After expressing democratic concern about the lack of results days before, 
Organization of American States Secretary General Albert Rambin wrote Wednesday 
on X that the OAS "takes note" of the results announced and noted it is 
"closely following events in Honduras."

   It also condemned electoral authorities for announcing the results while the 
final .07% of votes were still being counted.

   A rightward shift in Latin America

   For the incumbent, progressive President Xiomara Castro, the election marked 
a political reckoning. She was elected in 2021 on a promise to reduce violence 
and root out corruption.

   She was among a group of progressive leaders in Latin American who were 
elected on a hopeful message of change around five years ago but are now being 
cast out after failing to deliver on their visions. Castro said last week that 
she would accept the results of the elections even after she claimed that 
Trump's actions in the election amounted to an "electoral coup."

   But Eric Olson, an independent international observer during the Honduran 
election with the Seattle International Foundation, said the rejection of 
Castro and her party was so definitive that they had little room to contest the 
results.

   "Very few people, even within LIBRE, believe they won the election. What 
they will say is there's been fraud, that there has been intervention by Donald 
Trump, that we we should tear up the elections and vote again," Olson said. 
"But they're not saying 'we won the elections.' It's pretty clear they did 
not." ___ Janetsky reported from Mexico City.