On 8/11/08, Anti-Imperialist News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > *Two Stories Follow > > *Morales wins Bolivia majority vote > http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2008/08/2008811151353449635.html > > > Evo Morales, Bolivia's president, has won a referendum on his presidency, > in a move that he hopes will break a political deadlock with opposition > governors. > > Morales was set to continue with his policies on Monday, with more than 63 > per cent of voters ratifying his mandate and that of Alvaro Garcia, his vice > president, according to unofficial results. > > "Your vote consolidated the process of change," Morales told a flag-waving > crowd in La Paz, the Bolivian capital on Sunday. > > "We are here to continue recovering natural resources and the consolidation > of nationalization." > > Morales also called on four opposition governors who are defying his > political programme to work with him. > > But the president's victory in Sunday's polls was tempered by strong gains > for his political enemies, leaving the country sharply divided. > > *Political opposition > > *The governors of the states of Santa Cruz, Tarija, Pando and Beni > overnight celebrated their own strong wins in the referendum. > > Ruben Costas, governor of Santa Cruz, struck out in his speech against the > president's "dictatorship" and vowed Morales would not be able to step foot > in his state. > > Of the other four state governors whose jobs were also on the line in the > plebiscite, three were seen to have been ousted - two of them Morales > critics. > > Manfred Reyes, of the central state of Cochabamba and one of the opposition > leaders rejected in the referendum, has vowed to fight any attempt to make > him stand down. > > That raised the prospect of violence in his state, which has already been > shaken by clashes early last year between his supporters and Morales > loyalists. > > Morales relies on massive support among Bolivia's indigenous majority, > which accounts for six out of 10 of the country's inhabitants. > > They live mostly in the Andes to the west and have become increasingly > assertive under Morales in their demands for a greater share of the national > wealth. > > But the elite, mostly of European descent, have much of the national wealth > in the eastern lowlands in the form of farmland and gas fields. > ********************************************************************** > Optimism and Uncertainty Follow Bolivian Recall Vote > > http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1418/1/ > Written by Alexander van Schaick > Monday, 11 August 2008 > > Cochabamba, Bolivia - President Evo Morales and his Movement Towards > Socialism (MAS) party won a resounding victory in Bolivia's Recall > Referendum held Sunday, August 10. According to exit polls, more than 60% > Bolivian citizens voted "Si" to ratify Morales, a mandate that he hopes will > enable the approval of Bolivia's new draft constitution. > > The recall referendum also put eight of Bolivia's nine departmental > prefects (governors) to popular vote. According to exit polls, opposition > Prefects Manfred Reyes Villa in Cochabamba and José Luis Paredes in La Paz > were trounced at the ballot box, each with only 40 percent support. In > Oruro, Alberto Aguilar, one of the two prefects aligned with MAS, may also > be revoked. > > On the other hand, in Bolivia's lowlands, where opponents of President > Morales have led a movement for "Departmental Autonomy" from the central > government, the prefects of Santa Cruz, Beni and Tarija have been approved > with large margins of support. It is unclear if Leopoldo Fernández, prefect > of the lowland department of Pando, has garnered enough votes to continue in > his post. > > The referendum did not include Savina Cuéllar, Chuquisaca's conservative > prefect, given she assumed the position only a month ago after a special > election. > > On a national level, MAS has scored an important victory in reaffirming > support for their national agenda, including state recuperation of natural > resources, wealth redistribution, agrarian reform, and support for > indigenous rights. However, conservative sectors have once again shown their > strength in the lowlands and will likely continue to impede the Morales > administration at every step of the way. > > Ruben Costas, Prefect of Santa Cruz, stated during a victory speech, "This > insensible totalitarian, MASista, incapable government negates the > development of the people and only seeks to concentrate power and convert us > into its pawns." > > In Cochabamba, it remains unclear how the results of the Recall Referendum > will play out. Despite his lack of popular support, Manfred Reyes Villa > announced in a message Sunday night that he will not recognize the results > of the Referendum and carry on his work as prefect. > > "We are going to continue doing battle legally against the [Recall > Referendum] because someone has to be at the head of the defense of > Democracy and Bolivian citizens' rights and obligations and that someone is > me," stated the prefect, as quoted in the Cochabamba daily, Opinion. > > Since the Senate passed the law convoking the Recall Referendum, Reyes > Villa has carried out a legal and media campaign against the referendum on > the basis of what he views as its unconstitutionality. > > After the results were announced on Sunday night, a crowd of several > hundred people gathered outside the prefect's office in Cochabamba's > principal plaza, shouting "Manfred Out" and "Don't cry now Manfred!" If > Reyes Villa refuses to step down, peasant and left-wing urban organizations > will almost certainly mobilize to force him out of office. Such a scenario > might lead to a repeat of January 11, 2007, when three people where killed > in fights between supporters of Reyes Villa and President Morales. > > > > > Freedom Archives > 522 Valencia Street > San Francisco, CA 94110 > > 415 863-9977 > > www.Freedomarchives.org <http://www.freedomarchives.org/> > > _______________________________________________ > News mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://freedomarchives.org/mailman/listinfo/news_freedomarchives.org > >
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