The outright victory of Evo Morales, a 45-year-old Aymara indigenous Indian, in Bolivia's presidential election is a historic event in Latin America's politics. It is the first time an Indian leader has achieved the office and confirms a pronounced leftward swing in the continent.
"I am the candidate of those despised in Bolivian history, the candidate of those most disdained, discriminated against", he declared. Mr Morales rejects continuing dependence on the United States, is pledged to support coca farmers and to nationalise the country's large gas industry.
Landlocked Bolivia is one of Latin America's poorest countries and like many others has deep ethnic, social and regional divisions. They will be exacerbated by this result, not least because in the accompanying congressional and regional elections Morales's loose-knit party, the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), did much less well than he did. Many of its members consider him too moderate and are demanding a crash programme of political and social change which he will probably not be able to deliver. The richer eastern provinces, where the gas industry is concentrated, want substantially more autonomy. But there has been a real swing towards him in the country's middle class, many of whom are fed up with traditional clientelism and corruption. Mr Morales aims to rewrite the constitution to embed new political principles and prepare the ground for a longer term shift of policy after two recent presidential failures.
Externally, the United States regards this result as a major setback for its policies in Latin America. Mr Morales is pledged to end commodity exports and the neoliberal policies promoted from Washington over the last decade. He rejects outright President Bush's coca eradication programme directed against the cocaine trade and promises to find alternative uses for the plant grown by many of the farmers who voted for him. His victory has been welcomed by presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and Fidel Castro of Cuba, who have been taking the lead against US dominance.
It is estimated that 300 million of the continent's 350 million people are now ruled by left-wing governments, the latest link being the expected victory of the social democrat candidate, Ms Michelle Bachelet, in the forthcoming runoff of Chile's presidential election. Mr Chávez has just won parliamentary elections which were boycotted by the opposition and hopes to win another six years as president. Recent elections in Venezuela and Uruguay have reinforced the trend established in 2001 by President Lula da Silva of Brazil.
It is also changing regional politics. This was seen in the weekend meeting between Mr Chávez and President Alvaro Uribe of neighbouring Colombia and in the recent decision to allow Venezuela join Mercosur, the common market created by Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. It was seen too in the rejection of Mr Bush's proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas last month. Thus, this is a time of real change in Latin America.