SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia (AFP) — Bolivia's richest province of Santa Cruz was Monday celebrating its "autonomy" after a weekend referendum, even though President Evo Morales has dismissed the result as illegal.
In a speech broadcast after Sunday's vote, Morales said he was however willing to open dialogue with the opposition governor of Santa Cruz and with other provinces looking for more independence from his leftwing government.
In Santa Cruz itself, though, many residents felt they had triumphed in a bid to claim control over the eastern territory -- and, crucially, its vast gas fields that are vital to Bolivia's economy.
A partial official tally of a third of the ballots showed the provisions aimed at giving Santa Cruz its own administration and security force passed with 84 percent.
Nearly 16 percent voted against of those who cast ballots rejected the measure. More than one-third of voters however abstained from the referendum according to the provincial electoral commission said.
The province's top-selling newspaper El Deber said the "yes" vote was overwhelming and "Morales won't accept his defeat."
The United States reacted to the vote by calling on Morales' government and the opposition governors to talk "and resolve their outstanding differences."
"We urge Bolivia's leaders to use this opportunity to consolidate democracy and promote reconciliation, and build a consensus on Bolivia's future," US State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.
"We call on all sides to reject violence and exercise restraint during this period," he added.
The referendum was held in response to a drive by Morales, the South American country's first indigenous president, to give more of Bolivia's wealth and land to his fellow Indians, many of whom live in poverty in the western Andes mountains.
After the vote, thousands filled the main square of the province's biggest city of Santa Cruz late Sunday, waving the province's green-and-white flag instead of Bolivia's red-yellow-and-green one.
Many, such as Ana-Maria Soliz, a 27-year-old architect, voiced the belief they would administer their own resources "and move forward."
"We are now hoping for better government than under Morales," said an 18-year-old university student, Maria-Eugenia Roca.
Voting Sunday was marred by several violent clashes between pro- and anti-autonomy militants. Officials said 28 people were hurt.
Morales, who labeled the poll "unconstitutional," questioned how representative Sunday's poll was, claiming the high level of abstentions suggested Santa Cruz's 2.5-million-strong population was split on wanting autonomy.
The province's leaders were not accepting that argument.
"Democracy has triumphed," Santa Cruz governor Ruben Costas told revellers in the main square overnight.
He and Branko Marinkovic, another opposition figure and a major Santa Cruz landholder, left the door open to dialogue with the government.
They have said they believed the vote would strengthen their hand in negotiations with Morales to roll back some of his land reforms.
"The government has the legal duty and moral obligation to respect the vote, to do what the people say," Marinkovic said.
The challenge posed by the vote's result to Morales' two-year-old presidency is set to deepen next month, when three more lowland provinces -- Tarija, Beni and Pando -- hold their own autonomy referendums.
The governor of Beni issued a statement hailing Santa Cruz's vote result and promising "the rest of the country is going to widen this push," according to media.
A Bolivian political analyst, Carlos Cordero, told AFP Morales's room to maneuver was now severely limited and "he has no choice other than to negotiate."
"As much as he contests the legal validity (of the vote), it's difficult for him to not recognize the popular will that was shown," said the professor at San Andres University in La Paz.
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