Leading in early results, Machado claims win in Venezuelan opposition’s presidential primary

By REGINA GARCIA CANO
Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Early returns in the Venezuelan opposition’s presidential primary have given a big lead to former legislator Maria Corina Machado. And early Monday she has quickly claimed victory as the voters’ choice to lead the campaign to end the decade-long, crisis-ridden presidency of Nicolás Maduro. The independent commission that organized the primary did not release any results until long after polling stations closed Sunday, blaming internet censorship. The organizers said that in the first 601,110 ballots counted, about 93% picked Machado, who had entered the vote as a strong front-runner. The rest of the votes were scattered among the other nine candidates. There is no indication of how many people cast ballots in all, and organizers are expected to release additional results throughout Monday.