MEXICO CITY 

Honduran President Xiomara Castro ordered a recount of all ballots Saturday from the 2025 presidential election, challenging results announced weeks ago.

The move pushed by the Libre ruling party, has been criticized by critics because the National Election Council (CNE) certified as the winner Nasry Asfura, candidate for the National Party backed by US President Donald Trump, on Dec. 24.

Castro explained on US social media company X that the electoral body had refused to review more than 4,764 tally sheets allegedly plagued with inconsistencies, which translates into more than 1.5 million votes.

"This omission usurps popular sovereignty by disregarding, without legal cause, the vote of more than one million Hondurans who went to the polls. It constitutes a serious violation of the Constitution of the Republic, which I am obligated to comply with and defend until the last day of my term," she wrote.

The order would mandate the recount of more than 19,000 tally sheets, effectively dismissing established results. It does not outline a timeframe for the recount, but said that if the CNE refuses to carry out the order, the National Congress would be responsible for the process.

Castro said the CNE failed to resolve 292 challenges filed in a timely and proper manner nationwide, related to inconsistencies, records tampering, duplicated votes and ballot box stuffing.

She also stated that more than 500,000 votes lack biometric verification and cited multiple failures and alleged alterations to the preliminary results system that the ruling party has denounced since the Nov. 30 elections.

But opposition parties have criticized the order, and denounced that it was enshrined into law unilaterally by 69 lawmakers aligned with the Libre party. They have also reported that 70 lawmakers from the National and Liberal parties were excluded from the session.

The US has threatened "serious consequences" if any attempts to "illegally overturn Honduras’s election" are made and pledged its support Asfura.

The ruling party and Castro previously accused Trump of interfering in the elections by showing support for Asfura.

Facing a new chapter in Honduras’ electoral crisis, Castro addressed Trump.

"I respectfully invite you to engage in a direct and frank dialogue about the electoral process in Honduras, particularly regarding your public statements on the social network X in favor of citizen Nasry Asfura, which negatively influenced the development of the democratic process and affected our candidate," wrote Castro.