Venezuela primary favorite Machado carries on campaigning despite ban

FILE PHOTO: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado speaks to Reuters in Caracas, Venezuela January 19, 2023. REUTERS/Gaby Oraa/File Photo

VALENCIA/MARACAY, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado, the front-runner in a primary set for Sunday, has traveled the crisis-hit country in her signature jeans, white t-shirt and sneakers with her slogan "until the end", despite a ban on her holding office.

Leading her rivals by some 40 points in polls, Machado has continued campaigning even after the controller general in June barred her from public office because of her support of U.S. sanctions on the government of President Nicolas Maduro.