Three days before the elections. National Electoral Council (CNE) It continues without announcing the winner of the presidency HondurasAmidst intense competition between… Salvador Nasrallahfrom the Liberal Party, and Nasri “Tito” AsfouraFrom the National Party, supported by Donald Trump.
This delay keeps the country in a climate of political uncertainty while the initial audit progresses slowly.
with 74% of minutes were processed“, Nasrallah records 959,670 votes (40.22%)followed closely by Asfoura, who adds 946,462 votes (39.67%). The difference is slightly more than 13,000 votes, after vote counting resumed on Tuesday following a technical malfunction in the disclosure system.
At a greater distance is the official candidate Rexy Moncadafrom the Liberal Party, with 454,350 votes (19.04%)After confirming that he does not consider the elections a “loser,” he denounced the alleged manipulation of the initial results.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Asfoura had barely been at the top of the tally since election night itself 500 votes Of advantage, which formed a virtual technical equalizer. Reactivating the count changed the scenario and put Nasrallah in the lead, although the gap was still narrow. The liberal candidate expressed that the gap will widen in the coming hours He expected the National Electoral Council to announce on Wednesday that he is the “elected president” of Honduras.
Nasrallah’s progress opens a new chapter in a competition characterized by mutual accusations and the involvement of external parties. Asfour received explicit support from US President Donald Trump, who asked voters in Honduras to vote for him, describing him as “a true friend of freedom in Honduras.”
The delay in the definition keeps the state attentive to the development of the audit, which continues without an official date set for a final announcement. more than 6.5 million Hondurans They were delegated on Sunday to elect a successor Xiomara CastroHis term ends on January 27, 2026.
The electoral uncertainty coincides with an unexpected event: the release of the former president in the United States Juan Orlando Hernandez (2014-2022)He benefited from a pardon from Trump just one year after being sentenced to more than four decades in prison for drug trafficking.
“He was a president, and drugs were being sold in his country. And because he was a president, they persecuted him. It was a terrible witch hunt by (Joe) Biden, and a lot of people in Honduras asked me to do it, and I did it. I feel very good about it.”Trump announced at the White House.
The whereabouts of the former president are unknown, and it is not known whether he will return to the country. His release raised strong questions in Tegucigalpa. Wife of the former governor Anna GarciaHe asserted that Hernandez “was a free man again” and thanked Trump for what he called “a day he will never forget.”
While the voting process is progressing slowly, Honduras remains unclear about who will assume the presidency. The close gap between the two main candidates, allegations of technical malfunctions, and added political tension put the country in one of the most uncertain post-election days in years.
(With information from EFE)