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Bolivian province votes for autonomy
AFP
Map of Bolivia, showing regional differences.
SANTA CRUZ
LA PAZ
Petroleumworld.com, May 5, 2008
Thousands celebrated in the streets early Monday after Bolivia's Santa Cruz voted for autonomy, but President Evo Morales warned that the vote was "illegal and unconstitutional."
Huge crowds filled the main square in Santa Cruz city to dance and triumphantly wave the opposition run province's green-and-white flag. Morales went on television to sternly tell the province's governor and citizens that he would ignore the result however.
There were fears violence might erupt after the poll, which was punctuated by clashes between pro- and anti-autonomy militants that left at least 20 injured.
Bolivia's military chiefs have already said they view the autonomy move as a threat to national territorial integrity.
An official partial count of 22 percent of the ballots showed that Santa Cruz voters approved autonomy with 82 percent in favor. Santa Cruz provincial electoral commission officials said 18 percent of the ballots were against the proposal.
They did not immediately give turnout figures. The government had urged its supporters to boycott the vote.
Television exit polls for all the province had put approval of the autonomy measures at 85 percent.
The referendum has caused concern as the region sits atop natural gas fields that are vital to the economy of Bolivia, South America's poorest nation. It also has the country's biggest farming properties, concentrated in the hands of just a few families, several of which helped organize the referendum.
Morales has been making a drive to rewrite the constitution to redistribute gas revenues and land to benefit Bolivia's indigenous majority, of which he is part.
In an nationally broadcast address, he said: "This illegal and unconstitutional vote didn't have the success hoped for by certain families."
He called it a "complete failure" and stressed that the high level of abstention, combined with the "no" votes, robbed it of any legitimacy.
"Unfortunately this vote has divided the province of Santa Cruz," he said.
Autonomy required a redrafting of the constitution, he said, adding that he was open to dialogue with opposition governors.
Three other lowland provinces -- Tarija, Beni and Pando -- are to hold their own autonomy referendums next month.
Together, the four provinces account for 80 percent of Bolivia's GDP. Two more of the country's nine provinces are thinking of following.
In Santa Cruz's city square, governor Ruben Costas told the cheering, flag-waving crowd that "democracy has triumphed."
He also hinted he was willing to speak with Morales, saying the province's autonomy statute "is open to being debated."
Past talks between the president, an admirer of Cuban and Venezuelan socialism, and opposition governors, representing conservative and largely non-indigenous electorates with much to lose under Morales's reforms, have broken down without result.
Santa Cruz's residents, however, were in a party mood after the referendum.
"We are now hoping for better government than under Morales," said an 18-year-old university student, Maria-Eugenia Roca, waving a flag and wearing a cowboy hat in the square.
Another woman in the square, Ana-Maria Soliz, a 27-year-old architect, admitted that the effects of autonomy would not be felt right away.
"Nothing will change immediately tomorrow, but in the future we will have control over our own resources and we will move forward," she said.
Story by Marc Burleigh from AFP
AFP 05 1019 GMT 05 08
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