Conservative Candidate Backed by Trump Has Narrow Lead in Honduran Election

A conservative candidate held a narrow lead in Honduras' presidential race that had been thrown into disarray in its final days due to the surprise endorsement of President Trump.

Trump last week urged Hondurans on Truth Social to elect Nasry "Tito" Asfura, 67, the candidate of the conservative National party. On Friday, Trump said that he planned to pardon a former Honduran president from Asfura's party serving a prison sentence in the U.S. for turning the Central American nation into a narco-state.

With 34% of total votes counted by the National Electoral Council, Asfura, the former mayor of the capital city of Tegucigalpa, was leading with 40.6%. Conservative rival Salvador Nasralla, the 72-year-old sports journalist and media personality of the Liberal party, was behind with 38.8% of the votes.