Near-Final Count Shows Venezuela's Machado Wins Presidential Primary

Maria Corina Machado, the winner of Venezuela's opposition presidential primary, addresses the media, in Caracas, Oct. 24, 2023.

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.