http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/bolivia/6754210/Evo-Morales-wins-Bolivian-election.html
Evo Morales wins Bolivian election Bolivia's Left-wing president, Evo Morales, has won re-election in a landslide victory and is set to serve a second term. By Our Foreign Staff Published: 6:35PM GMT 07 Dec 2009 Bolivia's Left-wing president, Evo Morales, has won re-election in a landslide victory and is set to serve a second a second term. Photo: REUTERS Exit polls suggested his Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party had achieved 63 per cent of the vote, giving it two-thirds of senate seats and comfortably defeating his conservative rivals. Mr Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, immediately pledged to speed-up his radical reforms which are based on expanded state control of the economy and hinted he was keen to run for a third term. "By holding two-thirds of Congress, it is now my duty to accelerate the pace of change in Bolivia," he said after defeating the opposition leader, Manfred Reyes Villa. When the final result is confirmed Mr Morales, who came to power in 2006, will have enough legislative support to pass laws without negotiating with the opposition. Official results are expected to be declared today. Most of Mr Morales's support came from Bolivia's indigenous majority, which makes up 60 per cent of the population and which is now embracing greater powers and pride after long being suppressed by the 40 per cent minority of European descent. The Bolivian president, a fiercely anti-US leader and supporter of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, held a referendum to change the constitution early this year that scrapped a previous one-term limit for presidents and allowed him to stand for reelection. Like Mr Chavez, he also hinted on Sunday he intended to stay on beyond the new five-year mandate he was likely given, to see through a "revolution" that he claimed would require decades of stewardship. If Mr Morales runs and wins in the next presidential election in 2014, he could stay in power until 2020. Such a prospect would unsettle the United States, which is wary of the close ties between Venezuela and Bolivia. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
