Xiomara Castro orders vote recount 17 days before the change of Government in Honduras and unleashes national and international controversy

Tegucigalpa. — Just 17 days before the scheduled inauguration of the new Government, the President of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, published on Friday a decree approved by a majority in the National Congress that orders a general recount of the votes cast in the elections of last November 30, a decision that has generated strong political reactions inside and outside the country. The decree instructs the National Electoral Council (CNE) to recount the votes of the three elective levels: presidential, legislative, and municipal, under the argument that the process was marked by various irregularities. Among the accusations, the deputies promoting the recount allege a supposed interference by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, who, days before the elections, publicly expressed his support for the candidate of the National Party, Nasry “Tito” Asfura. On December 24th, the CNE declared Asfura the winner of the elections by a narrow margin against the liberal candidate Salvador Nasralla, while the official candidate of the Libertad y Refundación Party (Libre), Rixi Moncada, came in third place. The decree establishes that, if the CNE refuses to conduct the recount, the National Congress itself will assume that task, a provision that has been harshly questioned by the opposition.

Castro defends the measure and accuses foreign interference

President Castro referred to the issue this Saturday through a post on her X account, in which she called on Donald Trump to hold “a direct and frank dialogue” on the Honduran electoral process and his pronouncements in favor of Asfura, she affirmed “negatively influenced the development of the democratic process” and affected the official candidate.

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Castro defended the publication of the decree by assuring that the CNE did not count all the records nor resolved all the challenges presented after the elections. “I will not be complicit in the institutional cynicism of electoral bodies created to guarantee the right to elect and be elected”, he expressed, recalling the history of electoral fraud in the country, especially those that occurred in 2017. “For these reasons, of historical dignity, I sanction with my signature Legislative Decree No. 58-2025, which orders the scrutiny and counting of the votes that they do not want to count and were cast by the Honduran people on November 30,” added the president, reiterating her adherence to the popular will and national sovereignty. Rejection of the President-elect and warnings from the opposition From the National Party, the reaction was immediate. Congressman Tommy Zambrano, head of the Nationalist caucus in Congress, called the decree “an attack against democracy” and accused the ruling party of trying to manipulate the electoral process. “Pretending to transfer electoral material to Congress and alter the popular will is an abuse of power and a misuse of the state apparatus,” said Zambrano, who warned that, less than three weeks before the change of command, they seek to “consummate an attack against democracy.” Nasry Asfura, who was proclaimed president-elect and is scheduled to take office on January 27th, has not spoken publicly so far. CNN reported that it is trying to get comments from both the CNE and the United States Department of State, without response so far.