Honduran protesters police clash in escalating election crisis
Salvador Nasralla
A soldier kicks a tear gas canister during a clash with supporters of Salvador Nasralla  presidential candidate for the Opposition Alliance Against the Dictatorship  as they wait for official presidential election results in Tegucigalpa  Honduras  November 30  2017. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido
Both President Juan Orlando Hernandez and his rival Salvador Nasralla  a television game show host allied with leftists  claimed victory after Sundayâs election. The vote tally at first favored the challenger  but then swung in favor of the incumbent after hold-ups in the count  fueling talk of irregularities.
 Nasralla âs followers heeded  his  call  with protests throughout the night across the country. In the city of La Ceiba  protesters set up barricades and burned tires across a bridge and blocked at least two other motorways.
Supporters of  Salvador Nasralla   presidential candidate for the Opposition Alliance Against the Dictatorship  clash with riot police as they wait for official presidential election results in Tegucigalpa  Honduras  November 30  2017. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido
 Nasralla  took to Twitter early Thursday to implore  his  followers to protest peacefully and not be âprovoked by Hernandezâs activists.â
On Monday  the tribunal published more than half the results  showing  Nasralla  with a five point lead  but then published nothing more for 36 hours.
When the count finally started again  Hernandez began to reel in  Nasralla . The count has started and stopped ever since  with the tribunal blaming a delay Wednesday on computer glitches.
By Thursday afternoon  the tribunalâs latest tally showed that with 91.18 percent of ballots counted  the center-right Hernandez had secured 42.74 percent of the vote  more than a one percentage point lead over  Nasralla âs 41.55 percent.
 Nasralla  is one of Hondurasâ best-known faces and is backed by former President Manuel Zelaya  a leftist ousted in a coup in 2009 after he proposed a referendum on his re-election.
A soldier kicks a tear gas canister during a clash with supporters of  [TGT]   presidential candidate for the Opposition Alliance Against the Dictatorship  as they wait for official presidential election results in Tegucigalpa  Honduras  November 30  2017. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido
Both President Juan Orlando Hernandez and his rival  [TGT]   a television game show host allied with leftists  claimed victory after Sundayâs election. The vote tally at first favored the challenger  but then swung in favor of the incumbent after hold-ups in the count  fueling talk of irregularities.
 Nasralla âs followers heeded  his  call  with protests throughout the night across the country. In the city of La Ceiba  protesters set up barricades and burned tires across a bridge and blocked at least two other motorways.
Supporters of   [TGT]    presidential candidate for the Opposition Alliance Against the Dictatorship  clash with riot police as they wait for official presidential election results in Tegucigalpa  Honduras  November 30  2017. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido
 Nasralla  took to Twitter early Thursday to implore  his  followers to protest peacefully and not be âprovoked by Hernandezâs activists.â
On Monday  the tribunal published more than half the results  showing  Nasralla  with a five point lead  but then published nothing more for 36 hours.
When the count finally started again  Hernandez began to reel in  Nasralla . The count has started and stopped ever since  with the tribunal blaming a delay Wednesday on computer glitches.
By Thursday afternoon  the tribunalâs latest tally showed that with 91.18 percent of ballots counted  the center-right Hernandez had secured 42.74 percent of the vote  more than a one percentage point lead over  Nasralla âs 41.55 percent.
 Nasralla  is one of Hondurasâ best-known faces and is backed by former President Manuel Zelaya  a leftist ousted in a coup in 2009 after he proposed a referendum on his re-election.