Venezuela hopeful Rosales willing to cede place to opposition unity candidate

By Mariela Nava

MARACAIBO (Reuters) - Venezuela presidential hopeful Manuel Rosales said on Wednesday he is willing to hand over his place on the ballot to a unity candidate, amid uncertainty over who will carry the opposition's banner in a July contest against President Nicolas Maduro.

Neither the landslide winner of an October opposition primary nor her alternate were able to register for the race before a Monday deadline, though two opposition groups, including Rosales' A New Time party managed to register candidates.

(Reporting by Mariela Nava in Maracaibo; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb)