CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s opposition has agreed to hold primary elections in which it will choose a single candidate for the presidency at the end of June 2023, two sources familiar with the matter said.
Venezuela’s 10 main opposition parties determined the date, though it remains unclear what will happen to the country’s interim government led by Juan Guaido since January 2019, according to one of the sources.
The general election is set to be held in 2024, however, Venezuela’s national electoral council has yet to determine a date.
Guaido has accused President Nicolas Maduro of committing fraud in his 2018 reelection bid, though Maduro has denied the accusations.
The primary decision was reached by opposition leaders during a meeting in Panama earlier this week, a person familiar with the matter said.
It will be formally announced by the opposition coalition, called the Unitarian Platform, next week, the other source said.
Earlier this month, Maduro’s press office said it was not ruling out moving up the general election. International agencies and governments around the world have refused to recognize the results of the 2018 election.
(Reporting by Vivian Sequera in Caracas and Marianna Parraga in Houston; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
