Caracas - Supporters of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez won a strong majority of the vote in yesterday's elections for an assembly that will rewrite the constitution, according to partial results.
With 79 per cent of the vote counted, the Chavez camp took 66 per cent of the vote for nationwide seats in the assembly, to 34 per cent for its rivals.
Twenty-four of 131 seats in the body are elected nationally, while the remainder are chosen by region.
First Lady Marisabel de Chavez was among those winning a mandate on the National Constitutional Assembly, which Mr Chavez has called a key element in his "peaceful revolution" to rid the country of waste, corruption and injustice.