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Leading early, Machado claims win in Venezuelan opposition’s presidential primary_我的网站

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A | “简直就像一个个大圆桌”“第一次见到这种植物，是什么品种？”“它会开花吗？”……这两天，不少市民惊喜地发现湘湖“十里荷香”迎来新变化——一张张巨大的绿色莲叶漂浮于水面，叶片舒展，为湖畔增添了别样韵味。记者从湘湖管委会了解到，这是新晋落户的克鲁兹王莲。今年6月，湘湖首次引种40株克鲁兹王莲，历经夏日滋养，在处暑节气悄然成形。图片来源：湘湖管委会不同于普通荷叶的纤细灵动，王莲自带大气磅礴的姿态，成熟叶片直径可达1.5至2米，硕大的翠叶平整舒展浮于碧波之上，叶缘整齐上翘，宛如一方方天然青玉圆桌，错落点缀在湖面，层层叠叠，绿意盎然，为渐入清秋的湘湖留住了满目生机。 CARACAS, Venezuela -- Early returns in the Venezuelan opposition's presidential primary gave a big lead to former legislator Maria Corina Machado early Monday, and she quickly claimed victory as the voters' choice to lead the campaign to end the decade-long, crisis-ridden presidency of Nicolás Maduro. The independent National Primary Commission, which organized the primary, did not release any results until long after polling stations closed Sunday, blaming internet censorship. The organizers said that in the first 601,110 ballots counted, about 93% picked Machado, who had entered the vote as a strong front-runner. The rest of the votes were scattered among the other nine candidates. There was no indication of how many people cast ballots in all, and organizers were expected to release additional results throughout Monday.“Today, very powerful forces have been unleashed," Machado told supporters gathered outside her campaign headquarters in the capital, Caracas. “Today, we have shown ourselves what we are capable of doing in the face of all the obstacles, in the face of all the abuses.”Holding Venezuela’s first presidential primary since 2012 required the deeply fractured opposition to work together. Venezuelans, in turn, showed up at voting centers in and outside of their homeland to make it count, enthusiastically lining up for hours despite scorching sun and torrential rain.Still, what they saw as a monumental exercise in democracy could still prove futile, if Maduro’s government wishes.While the administration agreed in principle to let the opposition choose its candidate for the 2024 presidential election, it also has already barred Machado from running for office. Maduro’s government has in the past bent the law, retaliated against opponents and breached agreements as it sees fit.Hundreds of people gathered at voting centers in neighborhoods across Caracas even before polls opened. They stayed in line despite a rainstorm that left them soaking wet. They carried umbrellas, folding stools and coffee to ease the expected waits, and leaned against buildings or stood under marquees to try to avoid the rain. Caracas resident Stephanie Aguilar, 34, cried while she waited to vote. She described the primary as the only “salvation” for her country, her daughter and son, and the millions of Venezuelans who decided they had to emigrate due to the nation’s economic and political turmoil. “We want a better country, a free country, for my children ... who have grown up in this government,” Aguilar, a housewife, said as she wiped tears from her face. “They ask, ‘Mom, can we go out to eat?’ No, there is no money. ‘Mom, can we do this thing?’ No, there is no money. It is unfortunate that a society grows up under those conditions.”Venezuelans typically vote at public schools, but the independent commission that oversaw the primary opted to use homes, churches, private schools and other facilities after electoral authorities did not respond to requests for help in a timely manner.Jesús María Casal, head of the National Primary Commission, blamed the hours-long delay in issuing election results on internet restrictions. “Once we began the process of counting the results ... we detected that our server that functioned as a transmission channel was blocked, which prevents us from completing this process as scheduled,” he said.The London-based internet monitoring firm NetBlocks tweeted metrics showing “a disruption to internet connectivity in #Venezuela with high impact to Caracas." It added that a state-owned internet service provider claimed “an issue with its energy backup system.”David Smilde, an expert on Venezuelan politics at Tulane University, said the primary was a “significant achievement” for several reasons, including forcing political leaders and parties within the opposition “to reach out and speak to the people.”“And it has generated considerable enthusiasm and mobilization in a population that has been skeptical of the opposition leadership of late,” he said.Machado, a proponent of free-market economic policies, is a longtime critic of the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela. She maintained a somewhat low profile for years but dominated the primary campaign by connecting with the same voters she consistently urged to boycott previous elections.The presidential election is expected to be scheduled for the second half of 2024. Maduro is looking to extend his presidency until 2030, which would surpass the time that Hugo Chávez, his mentor, governed and established his self-described socialist policies.Maduro’s allies ridiculed and dismissed the primary all year. Still, both the government and its opponents used the contest as a bargaining chip to extract concessions from each other as part of a negotiation process meant to end the country’s complex social, economic and political crisis. Maduro and an opposition faction backed by the U.S. government last week agreed to work together on basic conditions for the presidential contest. That prompted the government to release six political prisoners and the Biden administration to lift key economic sanctions. As part of the agreement, Maduro’s administration and the opposition are supposed to “recognize and respect the right of each political actor to select” a presidential candidate freely.If organizers declare Machado the primary's winner, the focus will shift to Maduro to see if the government reverses its ban on her seeking public office. In June, the government issued an administrative decision prohibiting Machado from running, alleging fraud and tax violations and accusing her of seeking the economic sanctions the U.S. imposed on Venezuela in the last decade. The U.S., holding up the threat of renewed sanctions, has given Venezuela until the end of November to establish a process for reinstating all candidates expeditiously.A U.N.-backed panel investigating human rights abuses in Venezuela said last month that Maduro’s government has intensified efforts to curtail democratic freedoms ahead of the 2024 election. That includes subjecting some politicians and other opponents to detention, surveillance, threats, defamatory campaigns and arbitrary criminal proceedings.All registered voters in Venezuela were allowed to participate in the primary, as well as tens of thousands living in several other countries.“This is unprecedented,” said a smiling María de los Ángeles León, 31, the coordinator of Mexico City’s voting site. “People know that we have no guarantees that the winner of this election will be able to advance to the presidential election, but we keep trying.”___Associated Press writer María Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report.。如果走近了仔细观察这一方方“水上玉盘”，还会发现许多暗藏着自然的精巧玄机。王莲叶背布满粗壮的网状叶脉与细密尖刺，独特的气室结构赋予它超强浮力，均匀承重下可承载数十公斤重量。

B | 对于王莲有一定了解的市民，或许曾经看到过这样的图片：游客坐在巨大的莲叶上打卡留念。未来，湘湖是否也会有类似的活动？湘湖管委会工作人员透露，今年是初次种植，目前叶面大小还未达到能支撑人体重量的程度。“大家还得再等等，等王莲的直径和承重能力达标后，我们也会考虑推出人上王莲打卡的服务。”再来说说王莲花，作为独特的“夜开型”花卉，王莲花仅有三日花期，却日日换新颜，第一夜初开时为纯白色，第二晚转为粉红色，第三日变为紫红色，之后闭合沉入水中结实。因此，也有许多人称它为“变色女神”。眼下正值王莲最佳花果观赏期，7月至9月是它最美的季节。王莲虽美，却也娇贵，湘湖管委会也提醒广大市民游客，王莲叶背有尖刺，叶面虽美但不可随意触碰、投掷杂物。