Migration and ties with China dominate as Trump ally prepares to lead Honduras

(Patria) - Conservative businessman Nasry "Tito" Asfura is sworn in today as president of Honduras, two months after US President Donald Trump helped him win the election.

Asfura was declared the winner of the November elections by a narrow margin after Trump threatened to cut aid to the poorest country in Central America if his "friend" was defeated, AFP reports.

His victory gave the Republican leader another ally in Latin America after conservatives replaced leftists in Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina.

The 67-year-old construction magnate of Palestinian origin, Asfura, defeated TV star Salvador Nasralla in elections marked by accusations of fraud and a three-day wait for results.

After his victory, Asfura traveled to the United States to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and also visited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Following the meeting with Rubio, the United States and Honduras announced plans to negotiate a free trade agreement. Tegucigalpa's ties with Beijing, which the outgoing leftist government switched from Taiwan to China in 2023, were at the center of the elections.

Trump pressured countries in Washington's backyard to choose between close ties with Washington and Beijing.

The US overthrow of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, an ally of China, was widely seen as a warning to other Latin American countries to choose their side.

Asfura said he is considering redirecting ties with China to the self-governing island of Taiwan.

The fate of migrants

The fate of about two million Hondurans living in the United States, many without legal status, hangs in the balance. Asfura called on Trump to restore Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for them, a program that has protected about 60,000 Hondurans from deportation.

Migrant remittances represent a third of Honduras' GDP. Rubio, however, said Washington looks forward to working with him on "ending illegal immigration to the United States," among other things.

Asfura also promised to crack down on drug trafficking, which is entrenched in the highest echelons of power in Honduras, and to crack down on powerful gangs like Barrio 18 and MS-13.

Ahead of the elections, Trump surprisingly pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, from Asfura's party, who was serving a forty-five-year prison sentence in the United States for drug trafficking. Asfura distanced himself from Hernandez.