Honduras is a small Central American country of 11m people with a long record of disputed elections. Crime is rife, the economy stagnant and corruption endemic. Its mountainous terrain makes tallying votes slow.
A three-way presidential election was held on November 30th 2025. The main candidates were Nasry "Tito" Asfura of the right-wing National Party, Salvador Nasralla (a former television host representing the centre-right Liberal Party) and Rixi Moncada of the left-wing Liberty and Refoundation (Libre) Party.
Donald Trump endorsed Mr Asfura four days before the vote, saying they could work together to tackle "narcocommunists", and warned that the election of anyone else would lead him to cut off American aid. He then pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, a former president from Mr Asfura's party who had been sentenced to 45 years in prison in the United States in 2024 for conspiring with drug gangs. Mr Hernández was freed on December 2nd 2025. Most Hondurans did not want Mr Hernández freed.
Mr Asfura's campaign was managed by Fernando Cerimedo, an Argentine political strategist, who says he co-ordinated the Trump endorsement with Dick Morris.
Trump's intervention appears to stem from dislike of Honduras's left wing under President Xiomara Castro of Libre. He painted both Mr Nasralla and Ms Moncada as communists, despite Mr Nasralla's overtly pro-American stance. Mr Nasralla had run against the National Party on a joint ticket with Libre in 2021.
Honduras's mountainous terrain makes tallying votes slow: the preliminary count on election night is based on polling stations with internet connectivity, biased towards urban voters; tally sheets and sealed ballot boxes from rural areas are brought to the National Electoral Council by the armed forces. The electoral commission has up to 30 days to certify results.
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