(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump weighed in on Honduras' tightly contested presidential race on Wednesday, backing Nasry Asfura of the conservative National Party, saying he can work with Asfura to counter drug trafficking.
"I hope the people of Honduras vote for Freedom and Democracy, and elect Tito Asfura, President!" Trump said on Truth Social.
Hondurans go to the polls on Sunday to vote in an election that remains a toss-up, with polls showing Asfura, the former mayor of the capital Tegucigalpa, virtually tied with former defense minister Rixi Moncada, of the ruling leftist LIBRE Party, and television host Salvador Nasralla of the centrist Liberal Party.
Honduras has been governed since 2021 by President Xiomara Castro, who has forged close ties with Cuba and Venezuela, two countries mired in deep economic and human rights crises whose governments the Trump administration sees as dictatorships.
In his post, Trump said that the ruling party's candidate, Moncada, is a communist, while alleging that Nasralla is a "borderline communist" running to take votes away from Asfura. Neither candidate identifies as a communist.
"Will (Venezuelan President Nicolas) Maduro and his Narcoterrorists take over another country like they have taken over Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela?" Trump asked in his post, saying that Asfura would fight against Maduro.
The Trump administration has accused the Venezuelan leader of links to drug trafficking and criminal groups, which Maduro denies.
Asfura's party forged a close partnership with Washington under former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who governed from 2014 to 2022. Hernandez, arrested shortly after leaving office, is serving a 45-year prison sentence in the U.S. after his convictionon drug trafficking and firearms charges.
Whichever candidate wins a simple majority on Sunday will govern the country between 2026 and 2030. Some political analysts fear more than one candidate could claim victory, given the closeness of the race.
The Organization of American States and the U.S. State Department have both raised concerns about Honduras' electoral process and said they are monitoring it closely.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
