POWER

Chavez Supporters Celebrate Win

Incumbent seems to have won by wide margin.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez won reelection by a generous margin Sunday, according to the National Electoral Council. With 90 percent of the country’s votes counted, Chávez held 54.4 percent of the vote, compared with 44.9 percent for challenger Henrique Capriles. “Viva Venezuela, viva the people of Bolívar, viva Oct. 7,” Chávez said to socialist supporters in an appearance Sunday night outside Venezuela’s presidential palace. About 80 percent of eligible voters are thought to have turned out for the election, keeping Chávez in power despite a flagging economy, rising crime, and an increasingly divided electorate.