🔗 Share this article

The centrist candidate in Honduras's tightly contested presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has accused "unscrupulous individuals" of tampering with the vote count in the Central American nation.

Over a week after the election, the electoral council has still not declared a winner, but the most recent tally suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the conservative candidate endorsed by US President Donald Trump, holds a narrow lead.

Nasralla, who had been leading earlier on before dropping into second place, declared on social media: "They have stolen it."

The left-wing candidate placed in third, Rixi Moncada, has called for the vote to be invalidated and accused Trump of the election.

Narrow Results and Growing Frustration

With the vast majority of votes counted, Asfura had just over forty percent of the vote, leading Nasralla with under forty percent and Moncada with just under twenty percent, according to the National Electoral Council's (CNE) update.

Patience has worn thin over the last week as the counting stalled several times, sometimes for days on end.

Officials from the CNE blamed "technical problems."

They have also warned that thousands of voting records with "irregularities" still need to be reviewed.

Trump's Backing and Surprise Pardon

The period preceding the election was overshadowed by Trump's support for Nasry "Tito" Asfura.

Just days before the vote, Trump threw his weight behind the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, saying that "We can work together to fight the drug traffickers."

"Our support will be strong should Asfura win, but we will not be throwing good money after bad, because a poor choice can only bring catastrophic results," Trump added.

In a surprise move two days before the election, Trump also granted clemency to jailed former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who stems from the same party as Asfura.

Hernández was in the midst of a 45-year prison sentence in the US for conspiring to import cocaine.

His clemency and freedom has shocked Honduran authorities, who have issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who is still in the US.

Mounting Tensions and Claims of Meddling

At the same time, the situation has grown more tense as the lead in the vote count fluctuated repeatedly.

Trump accused the CNE of "trying to change" the outcome when Nasralla overtook Asfura early on.

"They will face severe consequences," the US president said without providing evidence of any fraud.

Since the moment the Trump-endorsed Asfura moved in the lead, it has been his two rivals crying foul.

Rixi Moncada's Libre party called for the "complete cancellation" of the elections.

It also urged its supporters to protest publicly against what it called "meddling and pressure of the President of the United States."

Nasralla pointed the finger at unnamed "corrupt ones" for "holding up the counting process."

Under Honduran law, the CNE has until 30 December to declare a winner.