Field in Venezuela opposition primary narrows as Superlano withdraws

CARACAS (Reuters) – Former lawmaker Freddy Superlano on Friday withdrew his candidacy in Venezuela’s opposition presidential primary, throwing his support behind front-runner Maria Corina Machado and further narrowing the field of competitors just over a week before the vote.

The often-fractious opposition is seeking a unity candidate to run against President Nicolas Maduro, who has yet to officially announce his candidacy, in 2024.

Superlano, who was polling with about 5% support, is, like Machado and fellow opposition figure Henrique Capriles, barred from holding public office, in decisions the opposition has said are arbitrary and unfair.

Capriles also withdrew this week from the Oct. 22 primary, which has 11 remaining candidates.

“We are supporting Maria Corina,” said Superlano, a 47-year-old engineer, during a joint event with Machado. “On the street everyone is convinced that she is the winner of this primary.”

Machado, taking Superlano’s hand, said the two “were in the same fight.”

Machado, 56, an industrial engineer, has said there is no back-up plan if she wins the primary, though she would be barred from registering her candidacy with the electoral council.

“We’re not worried about the bans. I’m going to register and that’s that,” said Machado.

Washington has said it is willing to loosen sanctions in exchange for concrete steps by Maduro’s government toward free and fair elections, including setting a date for the vote and lifting candidate bans.

At least one additional foreign oil firm could be allowed to take Venezuelan crude oil for debt repayment if Maduro resumes negotiations with the opposition in Mexico, sources with knowledge of talks between the U.S. and the Venezuelan government said this week.

The primary is being held without state backing, after the opposition rejected a request by the electoral council to delay the vote until November.

The council took until September to respond to a June request to assist with the primary.

(Reporting by Vivian Sequera; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Richard Chang)