Trump-backed candidate Asfura leads Honduras election

A CONSERVATIVE candidate backed by US President Donald Trump led the weekend’s presidential election in Honduras, according to partial results from the electoral commission.

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Nasry Asfura had 40.5% of the vote, a one-and-a-half-point lead over fellow right-wing candidate Salvador Nasralla, according to the National Electoral Council (CNE).

Both candidates were well ahead of Rixi Moncada, 60, of ruling leftist Libre party, who was trailing heavily with around 20 percent, signalling another Latin American nation poised to swing rightward.

The campaign was dominated by Trump's threat to cut aid if his favored candidate, 67-year-old Asfura, who is nicknamed “grandad,” were to lose.

Many Hondurans have fled grinding poverty and violence to the US, including minors fearing forced recruitment by gangs, although this escape route is no longer a viable option under Trump.

In the final days of the race, the US leader threw his weight behind former Tegucigalpa mayor Asfura, whose campaign slogan was “Grandad, at your service!”