Venezuela's Maduro wins ruling party's support for reelection bid

CARACAS -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday thanked the support he received from the grassroots of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) for his candidacy in upcoming presidential elections scheduled for July 28.

"More than 300,000 grassroots assemblies, the participation of more than 4.2 million members of the PSUV, have nominated me for the next presidential elections," Maduro posted on social media platform X.

He added he would wait "until the Great Congress" of the PSUV, scheduled for Friday, to make his candidacy for reelection official.

Meanwhile, the Podemos Party, which is part of the ruling coalition, announced its support for Maduro's reelection bid over the weekend.

The president of Podemos, Didalco Bolivar, said that they "decided, as the accompanying party, to back President Nicolas Maduro as candidate," and will ratify the decision on Friday.

The candidates must be registered between March 21 and 25, according to the election timetable set up by Venezuela's National Electoral Council.