Nasry Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras's presidential election, after weeks of delays following technical problems and allegations of fraud.
The conservative National Party candidate - backed by U.S. President Donald Trump - won with 40.3% of the vote, according to the National Electoral Council (CNE), edging out Salvador Nasralla of the centre-right Liberal Party, who got 39.5%.
In a post on X, Asfura said, Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged all parties to respect the result so that Honduran authorities may ensure a peaceful transition of authority.
However, the president of the country's Congress, Luis Redondo, asserted the result was completely illegal.
The vote was held on 30 November but the count was delayed twice by technical outages, which electoral officials deemed inexcusable. CNE president Ana Paola Hall blamed the private company tasked with tabulating the results for the delays.
Results were tight and the nature of the processing led to around 15% of the tally sheets being counted by hand. Protests erupted across the country with supporters of the governing Libre party alleging fraud.
Outgoing President Xiomara Castro previously claimed an electoral coup was unfolding and accused Trump of interference during the election process. Trump had warned of hell to pay if Asfura's narrow lead was disregarded.
In a surprising twist, Trump also pardoned Juan Orlando Hernandez from drug-related charges in the U.S., further complicating the political landscape.
Following the results, Rubio expressed optimism towards working with Asfura to enhance bilateral security and reduce illegal immigration to the U.S.
