Venezuela’s Primary Sweep Puts Maduro and Biden in the Hot Seat
Both men have a lot riding on a new deal to allow sanctioned crude back on the market. A decisive win by opposition candidate María Corina Machado complicates things.
Machado casts her primary election ballot, with her children by her side, in Caracas on Oct. 22.
Photographer: Ariana Cubillos/AP
Dressed in a white silk shirt and wearing a rosary around her neck, María Corina Machado appeared calm and collected under the blazing Caracas sun. Stopping to smile and hug supporters, the aspiring politician worked her way down a line of Venezuelans waiting to vote in this past Sunday’s presidential primary to elect an opposition candidate who will face off against incumbent Nicolás Maduro next year.
“My hands are shaking,” said 47-year-old marketing executive María Elena Ramírez, after casting her vote at a polling station in another part of Caracas. “It’s exciting to feel hopeful again,” she said, having waited a little more than two hours to mark a paper ballot. “We have to do whatever it takes to get out of this situation. I’m with María Corina until the end.”