Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah (born 8 June 1958), also known as Tito Asfura, is a Honduran politician. He served as a deputy of the National Congress of Honduras representing the Francisco Morazán department on behalf of the National Party, and served as the mayor of the Honduran capital,

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...

, from 2014 until 2022. He was succeeded as mayor by Jorge Aldana. Asfura was included in the 2020 Sachamama list of the 100 most influential Latinos, a list that several international organizations have endorsed.

Early life

Asfura was born to Palestinians who immigrated to Central America during the

Arab-Israeli conflict The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic an ...

in the 1940s. He studied

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

at university but quit his course before being awarded his degree in order to embark on a career in the construction industry. His entry into public life came in the 1990s.

Corruption allegations

In 2020, Asfura was indicted by the Honduran authorities on charges of embezzling public funds and money laundering. He was accused of misappropriating more than 28 million lempiras for his personal benefit. The judiciary seized nine real estate properties and three businesses belonging to him. However, all the charges against him were dismissed. In early October 2021, Asfura was listed in the

Pandora Papers The Pandora Papers are 11.9 million leaked documents with 2.9 terabytes of data that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published beginning on 3 October 2021. The leak exposed the secret offshore accounts of 3 ...

2021 Honduran presidential campaign

Asfura was chosen as the 2021 presidential candidate for the incumbent National Party. At the beginning of the campaign, polls indicated a tight race between Asfura and his left-wing opponent,

Xiomara Castro Iris Xiomara Castro Sarmiento (; born 30 September 1959), also known as Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, is a Honduran politician who is the 56th president of Honduras, in office since January 2022. She is the country's first female president, havin ...

, the leader of

LIBRE Libre may refer to: Computing * Libre software, free software * Libre Computer Project, developer of open-hardware single-board computers Medicine * FreeStyle Libre, a glucose monitoring device Media * Libre Times, news site which people can fr ...

and the wife of the former president

Manuel Zelaya José Manuel Zelaya Rosales (born 20 September 1952)Encyclopædia BritannicaManuel Zelaya/ref> is a Honduran politician who was President of Honduras from 27 January 2006 until 28 June 2009, and who since January 2022 serves as the first Fir ...

, but she went on to win the election by a comfortable margin.

References

1958 births Living people Honduran people of Palestinian descent Deputies of the National Congress of Honduras National Party of Honduras politicians People from Francisco Morazán Department Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras alumni People named in the Pandora Papers {{Honduras-politician-stub