An election day marked by chaos, tension, and premature declarations of victory by those in power ended with a result in which few participated. Honduras I imagined at dawn: Honduran voters clearly punished the government and the political framework known as “ … Family, which has become unimportant. After hours of technical malfunctions, reports of early closure of ballot boxes, and clashes in key centers, the last votes counted in the capital and in several departments corresponded, above all, with strongholds of the right, pushing the audit towards a negative result for the ruling party.
This Monday, after 56% of the tables had been counted, the official data issued by the National Electoral Council reflected an unexpected shift. The National Party candidate, Nasri Asfoura, received 40% of the votes, about 735,703 votes, after moving from third place in the opinion polls to first, driven by explicit support from US President Donald Trump. Center-right candidate Salvador Nasrallah came very close, with 39.78% and 731,527 votes. On the other hand, the official candidate, rexy moncada, Voting percentage decreased to 19.18%, with 352,836 votes.
In the so-called government candidate’s hideout, the scene was one of devastation and disbelief. Rexy Moncada didn’t show up all election night. His rhetoric of resistance, confrontation with elites, and condemnation of alleged American interference failed to spread. It was not helpful for her to announce her victory several times throughout the day before the polls closed, insisting that the opposition had no chance. The result refuted it with enormous force.
Honduras, where the president can only serve one term, joins the rightward turn that Ecuador, Argentina and Bolivia have already witnessed in recent years. For many voters, this result is a direct correction to the direction the country took under the ruling party of Xiomara Castro and Manuel Zelaya, which was characterized by their political approach to the crisis. Nicolas Maduro In Venezuela and Castro in Cuba.
In Honduras, the circle of power surrounding former President Zelaya, who was ousted in a 2009 coup, the current president, and his wife, is known as “the family.” This term became popular because many strategic positions of Libre and the government remained in the hands of immediate relatives or figures very close to Zelaya Castro’s heart. Your son Hector Manuel Zelaya Holding managerial and strategic positions; And other relatives and friends from different backgrounds achieved important responsibilities in the state apparatus. For the opposition, “family” encapsulates a political project based on the concentration of family power under the guise of progressive politics.
Honduras joins the rightward turn already marked by Ecuador, Argentina and Bolivia in recent years
The so-called “Trump effect” has also been tested in Honduras. In the streets, on the left and right, there was fear that the President of the United States’ open support of the National Party nominee would ultimately hurt him. Trump intervened directly just three days before the vote and did so by pardoning former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who ruled between 2014 and 2022 and who was arrested, charged, extradited and convicted of drug trafficking in the United States during the Biden administration. Trump asserts that Hernandez was the victim of a trap and decided to pardon him, a gesture that marked the final phase of the campaign and completely reshaped Honduras’ political council.
Nasrallah goes the distance
In the end, as happened recently in Argentina, with support for Miley in the legislative elections, Asfoura began to lead the initial count, although his victory is still in doubt. The reason is that his main rival, Salvador Nasrallah, was closing the gap as the vetting process progressed. Between the first cut and Monday morning’s updates, the gap rose from more than 20,000 votes to less than 5,000, according to the National Electoral Council’s results system.
In any case, the two candidates competing for the presidency represent a direct rejection of the ruling party. Both have promised to distance themselves from Nicolas Maduro’s government at a time of rising tensions with the United States and claim to be allies of Trump, ready to cooperate with Washington on immigration and trade matters.
This alignment has a clear and powerful explanation: in a country with a population of just over 10 million, about 26% of Honduras’ GDP comes from Remittances sent from abroad More than 1.2 million Hondurans reside in the United States. This reliance turns any change in US policy into a critical issue for the economy and social stability of Honduras, and forces candidates to present themselves as reliable interlocutors to the White House.
Relations with the United States of America
The Honduran vote in the United States so far has been in favor of Asfoura, driven by expectations of improved bilateral relations and the situation of the migrants themselves. But many reported that they were unable to vote: they reported insufficient ballot papers, incorrectly assigned stations, and incomplete lists. US Congressman Carlos Jimenez He accused the National Electoral Council of making the process difficult, especially in Miami. For thousands of Hondurans abroad, the day ended in frustration and without the possibility of their votes being counted. In Spain, it was not possible to vote due to the decision of that same body.
The day witnessed delays and malfunctions in biometric devices in polling stations, delays in opening tables, and errors in the lists. At different points of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, Groups linked to the ruling party tried to obstruct the observers and put pressure on members of the receiving boards, which increased tension during the critical hours of the audit. There were complaints of insufficient ballot papers, last-minute changes in station locations, and problems with voting abroad, with thousands of Hondurans reporting wrong stations and incomplete lists.
Despite this atmosphere, the end of the night made it clear that the operation was under intense surveillance, especially from Washington. The Organization of American States (OAS) has published a complete mission. They were joined by independent observers sent by regional civic organizations, as well as a delegation of Democratic and Republican members of Congress from the United States, who toured the voting centers in Tegucigalpa. This combination of international missions and external oversight has added an additional layer of control to an already tense and crucial process, finally without suspecting irregularities in this number.