By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, Dec 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday urged all parties to accept the outcome of Honduras' presidential election where Nasry Asfura, the conservative National Party candidate backed by the U.S. president, was declared victor by the electoral body.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
Electoral authorities declared Asfura the victor of the November 30 presidential election after weeks of delays, technical problems and allegations of fraud.
Trump threw his support behind Asfura, a 67-year-old politician and businessman who is the former mayor of the capital Tegucigalpa, writing in a Truth Social post before the election that he was the "only real friend of Freedom in Honduras" and urging people to vote for him.
CONTEXT
Trump also threatened to cut off U.S. financial support to Honduras if Asfura did not win. Despite casting himself as a foe of illegal drugs, Trump also pardoned former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was from Asfura's National Party and had been serving a 45-year sentence in the U.S. after his conviction on drug trafficking and firearms charges.
KEY QUOTES
"The United States urges all parties to respect the confirmed results so that Honduran authorities may swiftly ensure a peaceful transition of authority to President-Elect Nasry Asfura," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
"We look forward to working with his incoming administration to advance our bilateral and regional security cooperation, end illegal immigration to the United States, and strengthen the economic ties between our two countries."
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Alistair Bell and Matthew Lewis)
