VOTERS went to the polls in eastern Bolivia today in the second referendums on autonomy in a month, adding momentum to growing defiance by regions against leftist president Evo Morales.
The referendums, in the sparsely populated provinces of Beni and Pando that make up about 25 percent of Bolivian territory, are expected to be widely endorsed by voters. They follow an overwhelming `yes` vote for autonomy in the nation`s wealthiest province, Santa Cruz.
Mr Morales, a champion of indigenous rights, has branded the referendums illegal and encouraged his supporters not to vote.
Residents in Beni and Pando will vote "yes" or "no" to statutes designed to give their leaders greater control over taxes, policing and farmland and energy resources.
Although local media reported clashes between supporters of Morales and opposition backers in both regions, Pando`s capital of Cobija was peaceful overnight.
"I`ve voted in favour of autonomy ... Morales does not want the regions to move forward," said 46-year-old Marilu Gonzalez after casting her vote.
Pando and Beni do not have the political muscle of Santa Cruz, Bolivia`s agricultural hub and a bastion of the rightist opposition.
But if autonomy is supported by voters in both regions, the movement will gain momentum just weeks before a similar poll in Tarija, which has most of the country`s natural gas reserves.
The pro-autonomy regions are led by rightist politicians eager to manage their resource wealth.
Mr Morales, the country`s first President of indigenous descent, has advocated an intricate political system that would include regional, municipal and indigenous autonomies.
The plan was embedded in a new constitution ratified last year in an assembly boycotted by the opposition. It still has to be submitted to a nationwide vote.
Like his ally, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, Mr Morales has nationalised the energy industry and increased state intervention in key economic sectors.
His pro-Indian reforms are popular in western Andean areas, where indigenous people make up a majority of the population, but easterners are wary of his policies.
"Evo Morales is resentful toward eastern regions. He does lots of good things but always for his people, people from the (western regions of) Cochabamba or La Paz," said Enrique Gutierrez, 36, after voting in Cobija.
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