Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on March 22 named Corina Yoris as her successor to take on President Nicolas Maduro in the country's presidential election in July, following the arrest of two of Machado's close aides.
With Venezuela's opposition under pressure to pick a candidate to register their candidacy with the National Electoral Council before the March 25 deadline, the decision to pick historian Yoris, 80, all but marks the end of Machado's presidential aspirations.
Engineer Machado, 56, saw her ban on holding public office upheld by the country's top court in January—even after winning a landslide 93 percent of votes in the opposition primary last October—which sources said caused other members of the opposition to pressure her to pick a replacement.
Yoris said her first act as president will be to release Venezuela's political prisoners, who number at least 250 and include civilians and members of the military.
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