Socialist has lead in Bolivia election

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia – Bolivia’s Socialist presidential candidate, Evo Morales, who has promised to become Washington’s “nightmare,” held an unexpectedly strong lead over his conservative rival in Sunday’s election, according to two exit polls.

The wide margin means Morales, a coca farmer who has said he will end a U.S.-backed anti-drug campaign aimed at eradicating the crop used to make cocaine, likely will be declared president in January.

“If (the United States) wants relations, welcome,” Morales said at a news conference after voting. “But no to a relationship of submission.”

Nationally televised polls showed Morales leading former President Jorge Quiroga, who was backed by Bolivia’s business elite.

Morales had 45 percent of the vote while Quiroga had 33 percent, according to an Equipso Mori poll, and Morales was leading 44.5 percent to 34 percent in an Ipsos Captura poll. Morales counts Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez among his friends, along with leftists in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

If Morales fails to win more than 50 percent of the popular vote, Bolivia’s newly elected Congress must decide the presidency – a parliamentary process that would involve some coalition-building and likely would be a moderating influence on Morales, even with his unexpectedly wide margin.