BOLIVIA: Voters went to the polls in two provinces in eastern Bolivia yesterday in the second referendum on autonomy in a month, adding momentum to growing defiance by regions against leftist president Evo Morales.
The referendums, in the sparsely populated provinces of Beni and Pando that make up about 25 per cent of Bolivian territory, are expected to be widely endorsed by voters. They follow an overwhelming Yes vote for autonomy in the nation's wealthiest province, Santa Cruz.
Mr Morales, a champion of indigenous rights, has branded the referendums illegal and encouraged his supporters not to vote.
Residents in Beni and Pando will decide whether to give their leaders greater control over taxes, policing and farmland and energy resources.
Although local media reported clashes between supporters of Mr Morales and opposition backers in both regions, Pando's capital of Cobija was peaceful yesterday.
"I've voted in favour of autonomy . . . Morales does not want the regions to move forward," said 46-year-old Marilu Gonzalez after casting her vote.
Pando and Beni do not have the political muscle of Santa Cruz, Bolivia's agricultural hub and a bastion of the rightist opposition.
But if autonomy is supported by voters in both regions, the movement will gain momentum just weeks before a similar poll in Tarija, which has most of the country's natural gas reserves.
The pro-autonomy regions are led by rightist politicians eager to manage their resource wealth.
Mr Morales, the country's first president of indigenous descent, has advocated an intricate political system that would include regional, municipal and indigenous autonomies.
The plan was embedded in a new constitution ratified last year in an assembly boycotted by the opposition. It still has to be submitted to a nationwide vote.
Analyst Kathryn Ledebur sees the push for regional autonomy as an effort to derail Mr Morales's agricultural reform, obtain a larger cut of natural gas revenues and weaken the president's power base.
Mr Morales has nationalised the energy industry and increased state intervention in key economic sectors. His pro-Indian reforms are popular in western Andean areas, where indigenous people make up a majority, but easterners are wary of his policies.
"Evo Morales is resentful toward eastern regions. He does lots of good things but always for his people, people from the [western regions of] Cochabamba or La Paz," said Enrique Gutierrez (36) after voting in Cobija.
Mr Morales, hoping to gain the upper hand, has agreed to face a recall vote on August 10th along with Bolivia's nine regional governors. Most analysts say he should easily survive the vote, but some opposition governors could face a tougher battle.
- (Reuters)