Nasry Asfura
Nasry Asfura | |
|---|---|
Asfura in 2025 | |
| President of the National Party of Honduras | |
| Assumed office 24 May 2025 | |
| Preceded by | David Chávez |
| Mayor of Tegucigalpa | |
| In office 25 January 2014 – 25 January 2022 | |
| Vice Mayor | Juan García |
| Preceded by | Ricardo Álvarez Arias |
| Succeeded by | Jorge Aldana |
| Member of the National Congress of Honduras | |
| In office 25 January 2010 – 25 January 2014 | |
| Constituency | Francisco Morazán Department |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah 8 June 1958 |
| Party | National |
| Spouse | Lissette del Cid |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence(s) | Tegucigalpa, Honduras |
| Alma mater | Instituto San Francisco |
Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah (born 8 June 1958), also known as Tito Asfura, is a Honduran politician of the National Party of Honduras (PNH). He served as the mayor of Tegucigalpa from 2014 to 2022.[1][2] He was a deputy of the National Congress of Honduras representing the Francisco Morazán department from 2010 to 2014. In 2025, he became President of the National Party of Honduras. He was runner up of the 2021 presidential election, losing to former first lady Xiomara Castro. He is running again for the 2025 presidential election.
Asfura was included in the 2020 Sachamama list of the 100 most influential Latinos.[3]
Early life
Asfura was born into a Christian Palestinian family who immigrated to Central America during the Arab-Israeli conflict in the 1940s. He graduated from high school at the San Francisco Institute and studied Civil engineering at the National Autonomous University of Honduras, but quit his course to instead pursue a career in the construction industry. He first became involved in politics in entered into public life in the 1990s.
Political career
Early career (1990s–2010)
Between 1990 and 1994, he served as a municipal prosecutor's assistant in the capital and as an assistant to Mayor Nora Gúnera de Melgar. From 1994 to 1998, he served as the public services manager. He was a member of the administration of the mayor of the capital, César Castellanos Madrid (1998), and of his wife, Vilma Reyes (1998-2002).
He participated in the National Party's internal elections in February 2005 as a pre-candidate for mayor of the Central District, but was defeated by Ricardo Álvarez. During those elections, he used the phrase "Papi a la orden!" (Daddy at your service!) in campaign ads, which became his nickname. Álvarez became mayor of the capital in the general elections that year, and Asfura became a councilman in his administration. He was elected deputy for the Department of Francisco Morazán in the 2009 elections, but was later appointed director of the Honduran Social Investment Fund, a position he held until September 2011.
Member of the National Congress (2010–2014)
Mayor of Tegucigalpa (2014–2022)
2021 Honduran presidential campaign
Asfura was chosen as the 2021 presidential candidate for the incumbent National Party.[4][5] At the beginning of the campaign, polls indicated a tight race between Asfura and his left-wing opponent, Xiomara Castro, the leader of LIBRE and the wife of the former president Manuel Zelaya, but she went on to win the election by a comfortable margin.[6][7]
2025 Honduran presidential campaign
Asfura was once again nominated by the National Party got the 2025 presidential election. He was endorsed by United States president Donald Trump and Argentine president Javier Milei.[8][9] The U.S. government intervened in the election campaign to support Asfura by pledging to reduce its foreign aid to Honduras if he was not elected President.[10] During the campaign, Asfura spent time in Washington to demonstrate his alignment with the Trump administration's foreign policy.[8]
Asfura currently stands to win the election, having obtained 40.3% of the vote, however the election results are still in contention.
Corruption allegations
In 2020, Asfura was indicted by the Honduran authorities on charges of embezzling public funds, money laundering, fraud, and abuse of authority. He and co-defendant Nilvia Ethel Castillo Cruz were accused of misappropriating more than 28 million lempiras for their personal benefit[11][12][13]. In 2021, the judiciary seized nine real estate properties and three businesses belonging to Asfura, Cruz, and associates - [14] of which six properties (valued at a total 28.5 million lempiras) were ordered to be returned to their owners following a ruling against the government department Unidad Fiscal Especializada Contra Redes de Corrupción on September 25, 2023 by the Juzgado de Letras de Privación de Dominio de Bienes de Origen Ilícitoin Asfura. UFERCO appealed the charges, but were unsuccessful and the assets were returned[15]. The case continued until December 15, 2025, when the Supreme Court fully annulled all charges against Asfura and Cruz.[16]
In early October 2021, while the aforementioned legal case was ongoing, Asfura was named in the Pandora Papers.[17]
References
- ^ "'Mi Victoria es por trabajo': Nasry 'Tito' Asfura". es. Archived from the original on 10 June 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
- ^ "Nasry Asfura virtual ganador de la alcaldía capitalina". Proceso Digital. 24 November 2013. Archived from the original on 10 December 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
- ^ "Sachamama elevating Latino leadership 2020". Sachamama. Archived from the original on 18 July 2024. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
- ^ Palencia, Gustavo (26 November 2021). "Honduran ruling party hopeful Asfura faces uphill climb". Reuters. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- ^ Lopez, Oscar (28 November 2021). "What's at Stake in the Honduran Presidential Election?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- ^ "'She's the only option': Hondurans hope Xiomara Castro can lead the nation in a new direction". the Guardian. 24 November 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- ^ García, Jacobo (28 November 2021). "Los modelos antagónicos de Xiomara Castro y Asfura se enfrentan en las urnas de Honduras". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- ^ a b "Trump Endorsement Roils Already Tense Election in Honduras". New York Times. 28 November 2025. Archived from the original on 29 November 2025. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
- ^ "Javier Milei expresó su respaldo al opositor hondureño Tito Asfura" [Javier Milei expressed his support for the Honduran opponent Tito Asfura]. La Opinión Austral (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 November 2025.
- ^ Perea, Por Fran Ruiz (30 November 2025). "Honduras celebra elecciones presidenciales con la sombra de la injerencia de Trump". La Crónica de Hoy (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 December 2025.
- ^ "Sala Penal ordena anular acciones penales contra Nasry 'Tito' Asfura". Diario El Heraldo (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ "Aseguran bienes del alcalde Nasry Asfura". La Prensa. March 24, 2021.
- ^ "Ordenan asegurar bienes del alcalde capitalino Nasry 'Tito' Asfura". El Heraldo. March 23, 2021.
- ^ "Aseguran nueve bienes y tres empresas al alcalde capitalino Nasry 'Tito' Asfura - Diario El Heraldo". Diario El Heraldo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
- ^ cronologia/-/meta/redaccion. "Juzgado ordena devolver bienes asegurados a Nasry Asfura". www.laprensa.hn (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 December 2025.
- ^ cronologia/-/meta/redaccion-el-heraldo. "Sala Penal ordena anular acciones penales contra Nasry 'Tito' Asfura". www.elheraldo.hn (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 December 2025.
- ^ Medina, Brenda; Escudero, Jesús; Díaz-Struck, Emilia (3 October 2021). "When Latin America's elite wanted to hide their wealth, they turned to this Panama firm". ICIJ. Retrieved 4 October 2021.