Nasry Asfura, a conservative politician backed by United States President Donald Trump, is leading the Honduran presidential election, with about 40 percent of the votes tallied.

Preliminary results on Monday showed that the National Party candidate had secured 41 percent of the ballots so far, putting him marginally ahead of his Liberal Party rival, Salvador Nasralla, who had about 39 percent.

Left-wing candidate Rixi Moncada, of the ruling Liberty and Refoundation (LIBRE) party, was trailing in third place with 20 percent.

The vote on Sunday came several days after Trump brazenly intervened in Honduran politics, throwing his weight behind Asfura, the 67-year-old former mayor of Tegucigalpa, whom the US president said would fight “narco-communists”.

“If he [Asfura] doesn’t win, the United States will not be throwing good money after bad,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday.

Trump’s comments were reminiscent of his public support for President Javier Milei in the run-up to Argentina’s mid-term elections in late October.

Ahead of Sunday’s vote in Honduras, Trump also announced that he would pardon former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who used to lead the same party as Asfura.

Hernandez, who was the Central American country’s president from 2014 until 2022, is currently serving a 45-year prison sentence for drug trafficking and firearms charges.

Fanning flames

In the build-up to the election, the three main candidates accused each other of election fixing, with the president of the National Electoral Council, Ana Paola Hall, warning all parties “not to fan the flames of confrontation or violence”.

Under the leadership of President Xiomara Castro, murder and unemployment rates have improved, but the country still has Central America’s highest homicide rate.