Venezuelan Court Orders Suspension on Opposition Primary

  • Ruling comes after prosecutor vows to probe fraud allegations
  • Machado soundly won vote, setting up showdown with Maduro
María Corina Machado displays a document proclaiming her victory in Venezuela’s opposition primaries during a ceremony in Caracas on Oct. 26.Photographer: Gaby Oraa/Bloomberg
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Venezuela’s electoral court said it is suspending “all effects” of the opposition primaries days after President Nicolás Maduro called the vote a fraud, potentially souring a US-brokered deal.

The court ordered primary organizers to hand over documents in coming days, including voting sheets that have already been destroyed. The order comes days after Public Prosecutor Tarek William Saab, a close Maduro ally, said he would probe the results to look into allegations of fraud and usurpation of functions that properly belong to the electoral authority.