Bolivia's Richest Region Votes For Autonomy in a Landslide

Bolivia's richest region of Santa Cruz voted overwhelmingly for autonomy on Sunday in a referendum widely seen as a rejection of President Evo Morales' leftist reforms, exit polls showed. The ballot was the first of four referendums on greater autonomy from the central government being planned by eastern provinces, raising tensions between Morales' supporters and the conservative opposition that is concentrated in the east. According to pollster Focaliza, cited by local television, Santa Cruz residents voted 86 percent for the autonomy proposal and 14 percent against. The result had been widely expected because backers of Morales, a former coca farmer and close ally of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, vowed to boycott the referendum.