Bolivian President Evo Morales won a third term Sunday with more than 60 percent of the vote, exit polls found, giving him a strong mandate to expand his leftist reforms.
Morales, the country's first indigenous president, finished about 40 points ahead of his nearest rival, wealthy cement magnate Samuel Doria Medina, found pollsters Ipsos and Equipos Mori.
Thousands of Bolivians poured into the streets of La Paz in celebration after the exit polls were released, flocking to the presidential palace for Morales's victory speech.
"This is the triumph of the anti-colonialists and anti-imperialists," said Morales, who has had aligned himself with Cuba, Venezuela and Iran and has an antagonistic relationship with the United States.
He dedicated his win to Cuban leader Fidel Castro, late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and all "anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist" leaders.
Morales, who rose to prominence as a union leader fighting for the rights of the country's coca growers, has brought sweeping changes since taking office in 2006.
His government has nationalized a broad range of sectors, including oil, gas, mining, telcos and water; rolled out welfare grants for the elderly, children and expectant mothers; and moved to empower previously marginalized groups, among them the indigenous people who account for 65 percent of the population.
Defying opponents' dire warnings of economic catastrophe, Bolivia, one of the poorest countries in Latin America, has instead seen a boom.
The economy grew 6.8 percent last year and is forecast to grow more than five percent this year, one of the fastest rates in the region.
The exit polls found "El Evo," as he is known in Bolivia, had won in all but one of the country's nine departments, even taking the eastern business hub of Santa Cruz, once a bastion of opposition to his government.
Morales's Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) was meanwhile on track to win 111 out of 130 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 25 of the 36 seats up for grabs in the Senate, according to the exit polls.
Partial official results with about 70 percent of all ballots counted were expected to be released around midnight (0400 GMT).
If his win is confirmed, Morales, 54, 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 that imposed a limit of one re-election for sitting presidents.
Lopsided campaign
Political analyst Reymi Ferreira of Gabriel Rene Moreno University in Santa Cruz called Morales's landslide "a recognition of the government's management and of the fact the opposition never presented a vision for the country."
Santa Cruz student Sonia Tika summed up the president's popularity.
"I voted for Evo because he's done good things -- built roads, given us computers, food stamps. Everything the people asks for, he gives," she said.
Posters bearing the slogan "With Evo, we're doing well" blanketed La Paz on election day, far out-shining the opposition's propaganda, which was conspicuously absent.
Doria, 55, complained after voting in La Paz that international observers with the Organization of American States had been praising the elections even before polls closed. "That's not normal," he said.
Alvaro Colom, the former Guatemalan president who heads the OAS delegation, said the observers were impartial.
Some six million people were registered to cast ballots in the presidential and congressional polls in Bolivia, where voting is compulsory.
Welcome stability
The economic and political stability Morales has presided over are welcome in Bolivia, which has suffered numerous coups since independence in 1825 and still struggles with deep poverty despite the recent boom.
Morales, a member of the Aymara ethnic group who grew up in an impoverished family and never finished school, has also used nationalist, anti-capitalist rhetoric to fire up popular support.
He has argued vociferously against the US-led campaign targeting coca farming, which Washington brands a drug-trafficking activity because of the leaf's use in cocaine.
Many Bolivians chew coca leaves or brew them as a tea, and Morales has argued it is part of the country's cultural heritage.
In 2008, he kicked the US Drug Enforcement Agency out of the country, along with the American ambassador, accusing them of conspiring against his government.
Critics accuse Morales of clinging to power and failing to rein in crime, drug trafficking and corruption.
AFP
Mon Oct 13 2014
![Exit polls give Morales landslide in Bolivia vote Exit polls give Morales landslide in Bolivia vote](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2014-10/71413176712_295x200.jpg)
Thousands of Bolivians poured into the streets of La Paz in celebration after the exit polls were released, flocking to the presidential palace for Morales's victory speech. - AFP Photo
AWANI Ringkas: Bukan arahan saya - Fahmi Fadzil
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Wang kertas tertera wajah Raja Charles dilelong RM5.2 juta
Wang kertas tertera wajah pemerintah monarki Britain, Raja Charles III, berjaya dilelong pada harga 914,127 pound Sterling (RM5.2 juta) dalam empat siri lelongan di London baru-baru ini.
Penemuan takungan air, saintis percaya wujud hidupan di Marikh
Jumlah takungan air yang banyak jauh di dalam kerak planet Marikh, menimbulkan semula persoalan dalam kalangan saintis yang percaya tentang kemungkinan wujudnya hidupan di planet merah tersebut.
Mpox atau cacar monyet: WHO isytihar mpox kecemasan kesihatan awam global
Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO) mengisytiharkan Monkeypox atau Mpox sebagai kecemasan kesihatan awam global, pada Rabu.
Parlimen Thailand pilih perdana menteri baharu Jumaat ini
Parlimen Thailand akan bersidang pada Jumaat ini bagi mengadakan mesyuarat khas memilih perdana menteri baharu susulan keputusan mahkamah yang menyingkirkan Srettha Thavisin pada Rabu/
![Parlimen Thailand pilih Perdana Menteri baharu esok Parlimen Thailand pilih Perdana Menteri baharu esok](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/71723695263_TBSretthaThavisin.jpg)
Parlimen Thailand pilih Perdana Menteri baharu esok
Parlimen Thailand akan bersidang pada Jumaat ini bagi mengadakan mesyuarat khas memilih perdana menteri baharu susulan keputusan mahkamah yang menyingkirkan Srettha Thavisin pada Rabu.
5 kematian akibat komplikasi denggi pada ME ke 31 dilaporkan
Jumlah kes demam denggi Pada Minggu Epidemiologi ke-31 tahun 2024 dilaporkan sebanyak 2,515 kes berbanding 2,609 kes pada minggu sebelumnya.
[TERKINI] Fahmi nafi arah Google nyahaktif ciri graf penukar ringgit
Menjawab tuduhan seorang pengguna X, Ahli Parlimen Lembah Pantai itu menerusi platform sama menegaskan beliau tidak pernah mengarahkan penyedia perkhidmatan itu berbuat demikian.
![Wanita dan kanak-kanak maut dalam nahas kereta, MPV di Kuala Kangsar Wanita dan kanak-kanak maut dalam nahas kereta, MPV di Kuala Kangsar](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/51723694795_KemalanganMaut.jpg)
Wanita dan kanak-kanak maut dalam nahas kereta, MPV di Kuala Kangsar
Dua maut selepas kereta dinaiki terlibat dalam kemalangan dengan sebuah MPV jenis Toyota Velfire di Jalan Kuala Kangsar-Manong.
[TERKINI] Bapa terima baik kehilangan Nidza Afham
Mokhtar Mahmud, bapa kepada penyanyi Muhammad Nidza Afham redha dengan pemergian Allahyarham yang disahkan meninggal dunia selepas jasadnya ditemui terapung di jambatan Sungai Klang pada petang Rabu.