Bolivia province votes for autonomy

Exit polls on Sunday indicated that about 80 per cent of voters in the southern province had chosen greater autonomy, in a fresh blow to the social reforms plans of the president, Evo Morales.

Of the province's 173,000 registered voters 19.7 per cent chose to remain under the Morales government, ATB television reported based on estimated figures.


Mario Cossio, the mayor of Tarija, said "this day will mark a new page in our national history" that would clear the way for a "better future".

But Morales has said he will not recognise the results of the Tarija vote which he branded as illegal and a waste of resources.

Wealth-distribution agenda

Morales has been pushing his wealth-distribution agenda, saying it will benefit the poorer, mostly indigenous Bolivians of the mountainous western regions.

Tarija has only 400,000 inhabitants but has 85 per cent of the country's natural gas, which accounts for 13 per cent of Bolivia's gross domestic product.

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