Councilors Ana Paola Hall García and Cossette Alejandra López Osorio of Honduras’ National Electoral Council (CNE) consummated the electoral coup and declared Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah, of the National Party, as president-elect on Wednesday, December 24, for the term from January 27, 2026, to January 27, 2030.

The recognition of Asfura, a candidate publicly supported by Donald Trump, comes amid serious allegations of irregularities during the vote counting process, strong foreign interference, and a conspiracy orchestrated before the November 30 elections.

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The allegations were supported by both the ruling Liberty and Refoundation Party (Libre) and the Liberal Party, as well as CNE councilor Marlon Ochoa, who, among other points, objected to the councilors’ refusal to conduct a recount.

Earlier, Liberal Party presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla rejected the National Electoral Council’s (CNE) eventual proclamation of election results. Nasralla strongly criticized the body’s decision, asserting that a large majority of citizens do not support the way the process is taking.

In a message addressed to council members Ana Paola Hall and Cossette López, Nasralla stated that the electoral institutions respond to interests other than the popular will and maintained that the system favors figures linked to corruption. He insisted that his candidacy represents a break with these practices and reiterated that the population rejects the way in which the electoral process is being concluded.

Meanwhile, former Foreign Minister Enrique Reina warned on Wednesday, December 24, about the CNE’s intention to declare a “de facto president-elect” in Honduras without completing the official vote count, thus consolidating the electoral coup. Reina posted on social media: “This is how Honduras wakes up, with an electoral coup underway and a National Electoral Council (CNE) comprised of two illegal members, marching toward declaring a de facto president-elect.”

Reina’s accusation comes after a CNE plenary session held on Tuesday, December 23, where magistrates Ana Hall (Liberal Party) and Cossette López (National Party) rejected the review of approximately 10,000 tally sheets with inconsistencies, thus dismissing the challenges.

For his part, CNE council member Marlon Ochoa described the measure as an electoral coup, arguing that the declaration was made without the completion of the special recount and without resolving the nearly 288 challenges filed, in addition to the approximately 10,000 tally sheets with inconsistencies still pending a vote-by-vote recount.

Ochoa filed a formal complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Tegucigalpa against the National Electoral Council (CNE) for its intention to declare the results without completing the vote count. As part of his complaint, Ochoa presented 10 new audio recordings that “prove the electoral fraud orchestrated by the two-party system.” These recordings, he indicated, contain the voices of a former president, a former presidential candidate from the Liberal Party, a foreign presidential advisor, the Argentinian Fernando Cerimedo, and other unidentified voices.

The CNE council member emphasized the “most vulgar and blatant foreign interference in the country’s history,” directly pointing to the United States government. Ochoa denounced a campaign of threats by the U.S. to influence the elections, and specifically the candidacy of Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah.

Ochoa highlighted “the litany of actions by the United States government,” including threats of economic sanctions if their preferred candidate, Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah, did not win. He also referred to the sending of millions of text messages to remittance recipients warning of the loss of their funds if the candidate of then-US President Donald Trump did not prevail, which Ochoa concluded constituted a “violation of respect for the sovereign will of the people.”

Marlon Ochoa reiterated that it is a “crime” to declare a president with hundreds of tally sheets still unprocessed and with evidence of inconsistencies. Upon leaving the Public Prosecutor’s Office, he detailed the illegal scheme seeking to sabotage the election results, stating: “What is even more serious is that when one analyzes the universe of tally sheets where the number of voters on the tally sheet matches the number of voters registered on the biometric device, the winner of the election is not the person they are now trying to declare as president of the Republic.”

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