Honduras TV host widens lead over Trump-backed rival for president

Tegucigalpa, Honduras - Honduran TV presenter Salvador Nasralla widened a narrow lead Wednesday over Trump-backed rival Nasry Asfura as the counting of votes cast in a weekend presidential election dragged into a third day.

With nearly 80% of the count from Sunday's voting completed, Nasralla was leading fellow right-winger Asfura with 40.23% to 39.68%, according to the CNE election council. The result was still too early to call.

The CNE has come under fire from US President Donald Trump after announcing Monday that a partial count showed the two men locked in a "technical tie."

Trump, who routinely casts doubt on the integrity of elections whose results he disapproves of, accused Honduran authorities of "trying to change" the results, and threatened there would be "hell to pay" if they did.

Honduras is one of Latin America's most impoverished and violent countries, and many citizens have fled north to escape those hardships, including minors fearing forced recruitment by gangs.

The CNEcalled for "patience" as it finishes the count delayed by technical difficulties, and has vowed the end result will "scrupulously respect the popular will."

Honduran presidential elections are held in a single round, with a simple majority required to win.

CNE president Ana Paola Hall said Wednesday a manual recount was underway and inconsistencies in the records were being reviewed to ensure the most accurate result possible.

Ballots are still arriving from remote areas -- some only accessible by donkey or river boats -- and the declaration of a winner may still be days away.

The CNE, which parties of political favouritism have frequently accused, legally has one month to announce a winner.

"It's disrespectful to all Hondurans who went to vote," law student Katherin Matias, 21, told AFP in Tegucigalpa.

"Now they come out saying there are issues with the system. To me, it seems like there's something fishy going on," she said.

'Wrongful conviction'

Trump supports 67-year-old businessman Asfura, vying for the top job with 72-year-old Nasralla, whom the US leader has said was merely "pretending to be an anti-communist."

Trump has become increasingly vocal in his support for allies in the region, having threatened to cut aid to Argentina and Honduras if his picks did not win.

President Javier Milei, a close Trump ally, was victorious in Argentina's mid-term elections.

Whatever the outcome in Honduras, Sunday's election was a clear defeat for ruling leftists, and the country's swing to the right will likely boost US influence in a country that, under the last government, had increasingly looked to China.

Trump has granted a pardon to Juan Orlando Hernandez, a former president of Asfura's National Party who had been serving a 45-year sentence in the United States for drug trafficking.

The 57-year-old lawyer was released Monday in what was widely perceived as more interference.

In his first social media post sincebeing released, Hernandez on Wednesday thanked Trump, saying he "changed my life."

Earlier, in a four-page letter to the US president published by the media on Wednesday, Hernandez said: "Just as you, President Trump, I have suffered political persecution."

Hernandez's wife, Ana Garcia, told AFP he would not be returning home immediately due to security fears.