Bolivian President Evo Morales wins reelection with 61 per cent

President Evo Morales swept to a third term with 61 per cent of the vote, electoral officials said in confirming the result. In power since 2006 and Bolivia’s first indigenous president, Morales earned 37 points more than his closest rival Samuel Doria Medina. Morales will extend his time in office to 14 years, until January 2020, after Bolivia’s Supreme Court ruled last year that his first term was exempt from a new constitution adopted in 2009 that imposed a limit of one reelection for sitting presidents.

I voted for Evo Morales because he doesn’t forget the elderly.

Maria Virginia Velasquez, a 70-year-old widow

After rising to prominence as a union leader fighting for the rights of the country’s coca growers, Morales has brought sweeping changes since taking office in 2006. His government has nationalised a broad range of industries, including oil, gas, mining, telecommunications and water; rolled out welfare grants for the elderly, children and expectant mothers; and moved to empower previously marginalised groups, among them the indigenous people who account for 65 per cent of the population.

Morales Americas