Asufura said the United States was prepared to govern through a close vote as it called on “all parties to respect the confirmed results.”
Honduras’ electoral commission has announced that conservative candidate Nasri Asufura, supported by US President Donald Trump, has won the close presidential election.
The final results, announced on Wednesday, more than 20 days after the vote was held, are likely to pose challenges for the Central American country.
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According to the election administration, known as CNE, Asfulura received 40.3% of the vote, ahead of center-right Liberal Party candidate Salvador Nasrallah (39.5%).
Asfullah expressed his gratitude to CNE in a short social media post on Wednesday. “Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not disappoint you,” he wrote.
Trump strongly supported Asfra, attacking Nasrallah and left-wing candidate Rixi Moncada, who ultimately won less than 20% of the vote.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was quick to congratulate Mr. Asfura on Wednesday and said the U.S. government looks forward to working with him.
“The Honduran people have spoken out: Nasri Asufura is the next president of Honduras,” Rubio said in a social media post.
In a separate statement, Rubio called on all political parties to “respect the certified results” of the election.
Earlier this month, President Trump pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, a member of the Asufura National Party, who was serving a long prison sentence in the United States for drug trafficking.
Asufura, the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, is of Palestinian descent. But his National Party is staunchly pro-Israel.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he spoke with Asfura on Wednesday and the officials agreed to “strengthen bilateral relations” between the two countries.
“I extend my warm wishes to the Honduran people, wish him success in his role and invite him to visit Israel,” Saar said in a statement. “Honduras has a long history of friendship with the State of Israel and the Jewish people.”
In 2021, under the Hernandez administration, Honduras became the fourth country to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, in violation of international law. Mr. Asfura has also aligned himself with other right-wing leaders in the Americas, including Mr. Trump and Argentina’s Javier Milei.
Argentina’s president on Wednesday praised Honduras’ election results, calling it a victory over “narcosocialism” even though Hernández of the National Party is a convicted drug trafficker.
“The people of Honduras had the courage to express their opinions at the voting booth and chose to end years of authoritarianism and decline,” Millay wrote in a social media post.
“From Argentina, we celebrate the victory of freedom and reaffirm our commitment to democracy, the will of the people, and unlimited respect for the institutions of the region.”
Asufura’s victory marks another victory for right-wing candidates in Latin America in a year. Chile and Bolivia have also elected ultra-conservative presidents in 2025, and El Salvador’s right-wing leader Nayib Boucle easily won reelection last year.
The result appears to be a reversal of the “pink tide” wave of left-wing leaders that took power in the region in the early 2020s.
The rise of right-wing governments in the region coincides with a U.S. pressure campaign against Venezuela’s leftist President Nicolas Maduro.
President Trump imposed an oil blockade on Venezuela and concentrated U.S. troops and military assets near Venezuela.
