In the hope of political change in 2024, thousands vote in Venezuela's opposition primaries
MercoPressOct 22, 2023
Venezuela: Machado Claims Victory in Opposition Primary
The Facts
Former lawmaker María Corina Machado, given her lead in the vote count, declared victory in the Venezuelan opposition's presidential primary held Sunday to choose a unity candidate to run against Pres. Nicolás Maduro in the 2024 elections.
"Today I received a mandate," Machado said at her campaign headquarters after the Organizing National Primary Commission announced she had received 93% of the votes from 20M eligible voters, with only 26% of ballots counted.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
The sweeping victory of liberal Macharo in the self-managed primaries proves that Venezuelans will not be intimidated from exercising their democratic rights. The ban imposed on Machado is a sign of the Maduro regime's weakness and shows that Caracas fears the will of the people. Venezuelans are demanding change, and the first step in reclaiming their country and ending the era of "chavismo" has been taken. The US will stand with the Venezuelans on their path to freedom and a self-determined future.
Establishment-critical narrative
The Maduro government banned Machado from running for office because the US-backed candidate was a supporter of the disastrous sanctions against Venezuela and an advocate of military intervention for regime change. The US-Venezuela deal on "free and fair" elections is nothing more than a new attempt at blackmail to bring Washington's desired candidate to power after all attempts to topple Maduro have failed. The US is not concerned with Venezuelans but with its geopolitical interests.
Nerd narrative
There's a 40% chance that there will be a civil war in Venezuela before 2050, according to the Metaculus prediction community.