María Corina Machado is winner of Venezuela opposition primary that the government has denounced

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan government critic María Corina Machado was declared the winner Thursday of an opposition-organized primary to choose a presidential candidate, in polling last weekend that was denounced by the self-proclaimed socialist government as illegitimate.

The voting Sunday organized by the National Primary Commission drew more than 2.4 million voters in Venezuela and abroad and was aimed at choosing a candidate to run against President Nicolás Maduro next year.

But despite some assurances by Maduro’s government that the opposition would be allowed to choose a candidate, it has cast heavy doubt on any outcome of the weekend primary. Prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into primary organizers on charges including identity fraud and usurping authority, and on top of that the government has maintained a ban on Machado running for office.

Still, the primary commission declared Machado, a former lawmaker, the winner Thursday in an event before opposition leaders and some of the other candidates she obliterated at the ballot box Sunday.

Results released by the commission showed participation of more than 2.4 million voters, of whom roughly 93% supported Machado.

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Machado called the people who came out to vote the “great heroes of this historic feat,” and said that, “We have to trust the people of Venezuela who have trusted us.”

Voters defied expectations, even in neighborhoods once considered strongholds of the governing party. While they waited in line for hours either under the scorching sun or a downpour, many talked about their hopes for a government change that can pull the country out of a complex crisis that pushed millions into poverty and more than 7.7 million others to migrate.

Machado recounted anecdotes from Sunday’s grassroots effort, including when someone set up an ironing board as a table at one voting station and when voters used handwritten lists of candidates at another voting station when it ran out of ballots.

Jesús María Casal, head of the National Primary Commission, saluted the “courage” of thousands of Venezuelans who volunteered their homes, businesses and other spaces to host voting centers and others who “risked a lot” to help organize the contest.

“The ship has arrived at its port,” Casal said, while warning that there is plenty of work ahead. “A path has been opened, demanding inclusion, preservation and expansion of the broad political and social movement that was generated around the primary, citizen participation and dialogue with everyone.”

Maduro’s government last week agreed in principle to let the opposition choose its candidate for the 2024 presidential election, in negotiations with a faction of the Venezuelan opposition backed by the U.S. But the Venezuelan government has in the past bent the law, retaliated against opponents and breached agreements as it sees fit.

National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez has argued the turnout claimed by the commission was mathematically impossible given the number of available voting centers and the time it takes a person to cast a ballot. Meanwhile, the country’s chief prosecutor has said the criminal investigation will also look into money laundering allegations.

Machado on Thursday said she considers the government already in violation of last week’s agreement, which earned the Venezuelan government some relief from U.S. sanctions, including in the oil sector.

“It is a great contradiction to actually proceed to sign an agreement, whose purpose in a first stage is to hold clean and free elections, presidential elections, in 2024, and then, a few days later, proceed to violate the first point of the agreement, attacking those who organized this citizen event in a rigorous and absolutely legal manner,” she said.

In June, three days after she officially entered the primary race, the government issued an administrative decision prohibiting Machado from running, alleging fraud and tax violations and accusing her of seeking the economic sanctions that the U.S. imposed on Venezuela.

The U.S., holding up the threat of renewed sanctions, has given Venezuela until the end of November to establish a process for reinstating the rights of all opposition candidates expeditiously. None has been publicly announced.

Chris Sabatini, senior fellow for Latin America at the London-based Chatham House, said Machado’s ban carries an “element of personal vendetta” against her because she has been “quite absolutist in her rhetoric” on Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, and their self-described socialist policies.

He said she “triggers their fear” of what could happen if they are voted out of office.

Machado, a supporter of free-market policies, has been a longtime critic of the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela, even once interrupting then-President Chávez during a speech to the National Assembly. But she also has been a polarizing figure for her unwillingness to negotiate with the government and her calls for election boycotts.

She was a fierce critic of Juan Guaidó after he declared himself Venezuela’s interim president after Maduro’s 2018 re-election, and she maintained a somewhat low profile for years. That changed this year. Her ability to connect with voters placed her among the leading opposition figures, and the government ban on her candidacy drew international attention and helped her become the frontrunner.

“Patience and courage and time worked in her favor over the long term,” Sabatini said. “There’s no denying that this is her time – polls, the primaries, whatever – she has earned her right to run.”