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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.
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