Venezuela’s Machado wins presidential primary, near-final count shows

 Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado easily won Sunday’s presidential primary contest with 93% of the vote, the latest tally showed on Wednesday, though questions about her eventual candidacy persist.

After tallying 91.3% of ballot boxes, the National Primary Commission declared the results conclusive. Former lawmaker Carlos Prosperi – Machado’s nearest rival to challenge President Nicolas Maduro – won just 4%, the count showed.

Machado had already asserted her victory after an initial count of about a quarter of the ballots showed she was heading for a landslide win in the ballot to pick a unified opposition candidate to run against Maduro.

The Socialist president, in power for a decade, is expected to run for re-election in a presidential election due next year.

Washington has threatened to roll back sanction relief if Maduro’s government fails to lift bans preventing some opposition figures – including Machado – from holding office.

Machado was barred over her vocal support for the sanctions on Maduro’s government, meaning it is uncertain whether she will be able to run for the presidency.

Opposition figures have said for years that the bans are used by the ruling party to help it stay in power.

Maduro has presided over a prolonged economic crash and the exodus of more than 7 million Venezuelans who have left the oil-rich nation in search of better prospects elsewhere.