The bureau of Liberal International leads the global liberal family in applauding María Corina Machado – Liberal International’s Prize for Freedom laureate (2019) and the leader of LI member Vente Venezuela – on her emphatic win in the opposition’s presidential primaries in her country last week.

Winning 93% of popular support, we are proud Venezuela’s democratic opposition has rallied behind Ms Machado who will now spearhead the fight to lead a Venezuela that promotes liberal values, human rights and the rule of law when the presidential election takes place in 2024.

While the last mile is still to run we know that the Maduro regime will contest Vente’s success to have truly competitive election at every step. Liberal International will keep our focus on Venezuela and we urge for a long-term, independent observation of these elections. We know that alliances amongst liberal democrats are more essential than ever and Ms Machado has the full support of Liberal International and its 122 parties and partners from around the world.

In María Corina Venezuela has the right leader to not only deliver change peacefully for Venezuela but the potential to positively reshape the political character of the entire continent.

Just in: Venezuela’s top court on Monday suspended the results of presidential primaries despite an agreement this month to hold free elections. This is a developing update. We will communicate our bureau’s concerns accordingly.