In Venezuela, former lawmaker Freddy Superlano has announced his withdrawal from the opposition presidential primary, throwing his support behind front-runner Maria Corina Machado. This move further narrows the field of competitors just over a week before the vote.
The opposition is seeking a unity candidate to run against President Nicolas Maduro in the upcoming 2024 election, although Maduro has not yet officially announced his candidacy.
Superlano, who had about 5% support in polling, is facing opposition from holding public office, along with Machado and Henrique Capriles. The opposition argues that these decisions are arbitrary and unfair.
Capriles also withdrew from the primary earlier this week, leaving only 11 remaining candidates for the October 22nd primary.
During a joint event with Machado, Superlano, a 47-year-old engineer, stated, “We are supporting Maria Corina. On the street, everyone is convinced that she is the winner of this primary.” Machado, taking Superlano’s hand, acknowledged that they are “in the same fight.”
Machado, a 56-year-old industrial engineer, has stated that there is no backup plan if she wins the primary but would be unable to register her candidacy with the electoral council due to the ban.
Washington has expressed its willingness to ease sanctions if Maduro’s government takes concrete steps towards holding free and fair elections, such as setting a date for the vote and lifting candidate bans.
According to sources familiar with the talks between the U.S. and Venezuelan government, if Maduro resumes negotiations with the opposition in Mexico, at least one additional foreign oil firm may be allowed to take Venezuelan crude oil for debt repayment.
The opposition primary is being conducted without state support after rejecting a request from the electoral council to postpone the vote until November. The council took several months to respond to the opposition’s request for assistance with the primary, having only provided a response in September.
(Reporting by Vivian Sequera; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Richard Chang)
