Trump demands rightward shift as Honduras elects leader

TT

Published 2025-11-30 20.25

 

Voters outside a polling station in Tegucigalpa on Sunday. Photo: Emmanuel Andres/AP/TT

The situation is even between the three leading candidates in Sunday's presidential election in Honduras - where the United States is seeking influence.

President Donald Trump threatens to stop aid if his conservative favorite loses.

After ideological shifts in Argentina and Bolivia, Honduras could be the next country in Latin America to make a rightward shift.

Trump wants the 67-year-old former mayor and businessman, conservative presidential candidate Nasry "Tito" Asfura, to lead such a change.

"Tito and I can work together to fight the narco-communists," Trump wrote the other day on Truth Social, where he also promised to stop "wasting money" on Honduras if the left wins the election.

“Not listening to Trump”

Many raised eyebrows when he also announced that he would pardon Asfura’s party colleague, former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández – who is serving a 45-year prison sentence in the US for involvement in drug trafficking to the US.

It is unclear whether Trump’s remarks could affect the election.

“I vote for who I want to vote for, I don’t care what Trump says,” 56-year-old fruit vendor Esmeralda Rodriguez told AFP.

Promising social reforms

On the left, the ruling party’s candidate Rixi Moncada wants to continue on the path taken by incumbent President Xiomara Castro. She promises, among other things, to “democratize” the country’s economy, marked by deep divisions, through social reforms.

The third candidate who has been leading in the opinion polls is Salvador Nasralla. He is making his fourth attempt to become president, this time as the candidate of the right-wing Liberal Party, promising to take action against corruption.

Polls close at midnight Swedish time. The first preliminary results are expected on Monday morning.