Venezuelan opposition candidate says age is not a disadvantage

Corina Yoris, 80, an aspiring opposition candidate for Venezuela's president, said on Monday that her age would not be a disadvantage as she eyes the July election against current president Nicolás Maduro.

Yoris was named the opposition candidate on Friday by María Corina Machado, who won the opposition nomination race in a landslide last year but has been banned from holding public office.

Unlike in the United States, where the ages of the two presidential candidates — 81 and 77 — dominated the campaign, little was said in Venezuela about Yoris' age.

But if she were to triumph by July, she would be 86 at the end of her term and would likely be one of the oldest world leaders.

Yoris, a respected academic, told Reuters in an interview that she was not as physically agile as she once was, but that her “mind is very clear.”

“Is it only physical strength that determines the ability to carry out a task of the magnitude we have? I think we should emphasize the capacity found here,” she said, pointing to her head and her heart.

Monday is the deadline for Yoris to register his candidacy, but it was unclear whether Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) would accept his candidacy.

If the CNE says she cannot run, the opposition must find a new candidate and will have until April 20 to do so.

Yoris said she was open to discussions with Maduro.

“I have to negotiate with him. I am telling you that he must comply with the Constitution,” she said.

Venezuela's ruling Socialist Party authorized Maduro, a 61-year-old former bus driver, to seek a second re-election for another six-year term and he successfully registered as a candidate with the CNE on Monday.

“There will be elections with or without you,” Maduro said from the CNE building in Caracas, referring to the opposition.

At least nine other candidates have also registered, although most are seen as close to the government and without significant voter support, according to opinion polls.