Venezuela opposition registers presidential candidate to preserve spot on ballot

A major Venezuelan opposition group has registered a candidate for July's presidential election to ensure a spot on the ballot, even though both the winner of the opposition's primary and her alternate were unable to register for the contest, electoral authorities and sources said on Tuesday.

A major Venezuelan opposition group has registered a candidate for July's presidential election to ensure a spot on the ballot, even though both the winner of the opposition's primary and her alternate were unable to register for the contest, electoral authorities and sources said on Tuesday. The Democratic Unity group, part of a larger coalition of opposition parties, registered a candidate before a Monday deadline, the national electoral council said.

Three opposition sources told Reuters the registration of Edmundo Gonzalez, a former ambassador, is meant to hold a spot on the ballot for a possible substitute, who can be named until April 20. The wide opposition coalition was left without an elected candidate after Maria Corina Machado, who won the opposition nominating contest by a landslide last year to run against incumbent President Nicolas Maduro, had a public office ban upheld by the country's top court.

Machado then named Corina Yoris as an alternate, but Yoris was unable to access the electoral authority's online system to register before the deadline.

"Everyone knew Machado would not get through," one of the sources said. "The registration of Edmundo is a cover." "The spot on the ballot for Democratic Unity was saved with a name, to later substitute that name," another said.