An official partial count of the vote showed 82 percent of voters backed the autonomy plans. The result had been widely expected as backers of Morales vowed to boycott the referendum.

Thousands turned out in the streets of Santa Cruz Monday to celebrate the results and the region’s Governor, Ruben Costas, called the result “the most important act of our republican history”. But in a national address after voting had finished, President Morales said he would ignore the results. He stressed the high levels of abstention–and called for opposition state governors to engage in dialogue with the central government.

The Santa Cruz region sits atop natural gas fields that are vital to Bolivia’s economy. It also has the country’s biggest farming properties, concentrated in the hands of just a few families, several of which helped organize the referendum. Next month three other opposition-run provinces in Bolivia’s eastern lowlands hold their own autonomy referendums.

Jim Shultz, executive director of the Democracy Center in Cochabamba, Bolivia. He writes a blog on Bolivia that can be found at Democracyctr.org. He joins us on the line from Cochabamba.

Related Democracy Now! Stories

• Report: U.S. Funding Opposition Groups in Bolivia (2/11/2008)
• Four of Bolivia’s Wealthiest Regions Declare Autonomy in Protest of New Constitution (12/17/2007)

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