Morales claims landslide victory in Bolivia vote
15 Oct 2014 5:08 AM IST
Bolivian President Evo Morales declared victory Sunday and exit polls showed him romping to a third term with more than 60 percent of the vote, giving him a strong mandate to expand his leftist reforms.
Thousands of people poured onto the streets of La Paz in celebration, flocking to the presidential palace to get a glimpse of the man they affectionately call ‘El Evo,’ Bolivia’s first indigenous president. Large crowds also flooded the streets of other major Bolivian cities. ‘This is the triumph of the anti-colonialists and anti-imperialists,’ boomed Morales, 54, who has aligned himself with Cuba, Venezuela and Iran and has an antagonistic relationship with the United States.
To roars of approval, he dedicated victory to Cuban leader Fidel Castro, late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and all ‘anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist’ leaders.
Official results were delayed to early Monday but pollsters Ipsos and Equipos Mori said Morales had triumphed a whopping 40 points ahead of his nearest rival, wealthy cement magnate Samuel Doria Medina. Morales will extend his time in office to 14 years, until January 2020, after Bolivia’s Supreme Court ruled last year that his first term was exempt from a new constitution adopted in 2009.
Thousands of people poured onto the streets of La Paz in celebration, flocking to the presidential palace to get a glimpse of the man they affectionately call ‘El Evo,’ Bolivia’s first indigenous president. Large crowds also flooded the streets of other major Bolivian cities. ‘This is the triumph of the anti-colonialists and anti-imperialists,’ boomed Morales, 54, who has aligned himself with Cuba, Venezuela and Iran and has an antagonistic relationship with the United States.
To roars of approval, he dedicated victory to Cuban leader Fidel Castro, late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and all ‘anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist’ leaders.
Official results were delayed to early Monday but pollsters Ipsos and Equipos Mori said Morales had triumphed a whopping 40 points ahead of his nearest rival, wealthy cement magnate Samuel Doria Medina. Morales will extend his time in office to 14 years, until January 2020, after Bolivia’s Supreme Court ruled last year that his first term was exempt from a new constitution adopted in 2009.
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