Morales Seeks to Continue Bolivia ‘Revolution’ After Vote Today

[Judi Lynn]

Morales Seeks to Continue Bolivia ‘Revolution’ After Vote Today
By Jonathan J. Levin

Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Bolivian President Evo Morales will likely win re-election today on pledges to expand his socialist “revolution” by increasing state control over the South American country’s energy and mining industries.

Morales, a 50-year-old former coca farmer and union leader, leads former Governor Manfred Reyes Villa by more than 30 percentage points, according to a survey last month by research company Ipsos Apoyo.

The head of the Movement Toward Socialism party, Morales said he will use a second five-year term to increase state control over the $30.3 billion natural-gas and mining-driven economy and boost stipends to the poor. His government has promised to replace gravel roads with highways across the country and reduce dependence on the export of raw materials.

“This revolutionary process will never fail,” Morales said Dec. 3 at his final campaign rally in the city of El Alto, as supporters packing the streets chanted his name and waved the red, yellow and green national flag. “This process of change belongs to the Bolivian people.”

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