Venezuela: Machado takes big early lead in presidential primary vote

Challenger to crisis-ridden presidency of Nicolas Maduro claims victory after Venezuelans queue for hours in rainstorm to vote

Early returns in the Venezuelan opposition's presidential primary have given a big lead to former legislator Maria Corina Machado, who quickly claimed victory as the candidate to end the decade-long, crisis-ridden presidency of Nicolas Maduro.

The independent National Primary Commission, which organised the vote, said about 93% of the first 601,110 ballots counted went to Machado, who entered the contest as a strong frontrunner. The rest of the votes were scattered among the other nine candidates. There was no indication of how many people had voted, and organisers were expected to release additional results throughout Monday.