Bolivia's richest region votes "yes" on autonomy

By Pav Jordan

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - Bolivia's richest region of Santa Cruz voted overwhelmingly for autonomy on Sunday in a vote widely seen as a rejection of President Evo Morales' leftist reforms, exit polls showed.

The vote was the first of four referendums on greater autonomy from central government being planned by Bolivia's eastern lowland provinces, deepening a divide between Morales' supporters and the conservative opposition.

According to the pollster Focaliza cited by local television, Santa Cruz residents voted 86 percent in favor of autonomy and 14 percent against. The result had been widely expected because Morales backers vowed to boycott the polls and the exit polls did not estimate turnout.

On the streets of Santa Cruz city, residents honked car horns as they celebrated victory in a referendum that Morales had branded as illegal.

"We feel the battle has not been in vain," said Rodolfo Ochoa, 30, a craftsman in the city's main square where crowds gathered and danced soon after the exit polls were broadcast.

Voting was mainly calm, but officials said at least 18 people were hurt as supporters and opponents of Morales, a former coca farmer, fought with sticks and stones in the region's capital. One man died as police fired tear gas to quell the unrest, a Reuters witness said.

The referendum theoretically gives Santa Cruz's conservative leaders more control over natural resources that include fertile farmland and about 10 percent of Bolivia's oil and natural gas reserves.

Despite Morales' rejection of the validity of the ballot, the resounding "yes" vote could force him to negotiate with his opponents in Santa Cruz and three other pro-autonomy regions in Bolivia's eastern lowlands.