Venezuela ruling party officially makes Maduro its candidate in the July presidential election

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has become his party’s official nominee for July’s highly anticipated presidential election, which will allow him to stroll into a third consecutive term with no real competition on the horizon. That is ot unusual to Venezuela. The July 28 election has been plagued with controversy since Maduro’s main opponent, María Corina Machado, was disqualified by Venezuelan authorities to hold public office for 15 tears. She swept an opposition coalition’s primary election with more than 90% of the votes. Maduro accepted the nomination as the ruling United Socialist Party’s candidate for the during a party gathering Saturday in Caracas, saying he has “the support of the people.”