Reuters
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Honduras’ presidential election on Tuesday saw Salvador Nasrallah of the centrist Liberal Party narrowly lead Nasri Asfura, a conservative candidate backed by US President Donald Trump, which has been plagued by vote-counting delays and allegations of fraud.
According to the latest results announced by the National Election Commission around 6:00 pm (7:00 pm Eastern Time), the vote count was approximately 68%, with Nasrallah at 40.13% and National Party’s Asfullah at 39.71%. The lead candidate had a narrow margin of 9,129 votes.
When the results were announced on Monday, Asfullah was leading by about 500 votes.
Lixi Moncada of the ruling leftist Libre party was far behind in third place with 19.09%.
Honduran election officials called for calm early Tuesday as they scrambled to overcome system failures that left about 20% of presidential election votes uncounted, as President Trump claimed possible fraud and vowed to “pay a hell of a price” if the results were changed.
On Monday, the electoral body said Mr Asfullah and Mr Nasrallah were “technically tied” with just under 40% of the vote each, and the votes would have to be counted by hand.
The CNE elections office said in a statement Tuesday that there were problems with the initial rapid counting system. We also encountered problems with web portals where results needed to be updated in real time. The website was down for much of Monday, plagued by accusations of possible fraud before Sunday’s vote was counted, raising tensions in the hotly contested race.
As the count continues, former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez of the National Party was released from a U.S. prison on Monday after serving a 45-year sentence on drug trafficking and firearms charges, the Federal Bureau of Prisons registry showed.
His release came after President Trump urged Honduran voters to vote for National Party candidate Azufura and said he would pardon Hernandez. White House officials confirmed Tuesday that Trump had pardoned Hernandez.
President Trump claimed in a social media post Monday that Honduras is “trying to change the outcome of the presidential election,” without evidence.
“If that happens, there will be hell to pay! The people of Honduras voted overwhelmingly on November 30th,” President Trump said on his platform Truth Social.
Sunday’s election had a high turnout and was peaceful across the country, according to the Organization of American States, which monitored the vote. The agency said in a statement on Monday: “We can confirm that voting occurred normally, with the exception of isolated incidents in some municipalities across the country.”
However, there are concerns that if the vote counting process drags on, the election environment could become extremely tense, leading to protests and violence.
Election authorities have announced that they will now release information on the tally directly to the media and political parties to ensure that the public understands the results.
Former President Manuel Zelaya, who is also the husband of current President Xiomara Castro, slammed President Trump’s interference in the election on the X show, saying it was an attempt to block Moncada’s bid and vowing that Hondurans would stand up for democracy. “Those of us who fight for freedom stand on our own two feet,” he wrote. “We are patriots and we will not concede to anyone.”
Moncada said Monday night that the election was “not lost yet” and claimed other political parties had manipulated the electoral process. She also condemned US election interference.
Both Asfullah and Nasrallah have said there is a possibility of resuming diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which were severed in 2023. Such a move would be China’s biggest diplomatic setback in the region in decades.
In Taipei on Wednesday, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung told reporters that Taiwan intends to be actively involved in whoever is elected.
“We also hope that Taiwan and Honduras can establish diplomatic relations based on equality and mutual benefit after this election.”
In the run-up to the presidential election, President Trump said there was a possibility of cooperating with Asufura, 67, the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, to combat drug trafficking. He accused Moncada of being a “communist” without providing evidence.
Trump also called Nasrallah a “borderline communist” trying to steal votes from Asfullah. The 72-year-old TV host served as vice president in Castro’s government, but resigned to run for president for a third time as the centrist Liberal Party candidate on a broad platform of restoring the rule of law and fighting corruption.
