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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]
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.[ citation needed ]
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.
| | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (December 2025) |
| | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (December 2025) |
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]
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.
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]