Bolivia remains bitterly divided despite poll win by president Morales

President Evo Morales is to push for a new constitution to transform Bolivia and increase the power of its indigenous majority after his sweeping victory in Sunday's recall referendum.

The radical reformer, a former coca farmer, hopes the landslide will revive his stalled effort to "refound" South America's poorest country as a socialist state to benefit the long-neglected indigenous masses in the western highlands. More than 63% of voters ratified the mandate of Morales and his vice-president, Alvaro García, according to partial unofficial results .

The new constitution, if approved, would extend the powers of the central government and allow Morales to run for a second consecutive term in the deeply divided nation.

"What happened today is important, not only for Bolivians but for all Latin Americans," Morales told a cheering crowd from the balcony of the presidential palace in La Paz. "I dedicate this victory to all the revolutionaries in the world."

However, fierce opposition in Bolivia's relatively prosperous eastern lowlands has stymied much of his ambitious agenda, provoking turmoil and political violence.

Eight provincial governors were also subject to recall and two opposition figures were among the three governors who were ousted. But the most powerful opposition governors in Santa Cruz and neighbouring provinces entrenched their positions and declared a fresh mandate to resist what they portrayed as a budding socialist tyranny.

Land reform and control of natural gas revenues compound the racially tinged power struggle between La Paz and the restive provinces.

In a combative address, Rubén Costas, the governor of Santa Cruz, advocated more regional autonomy and rejected a new constitution. Another opposition governor, Manfred Reyes Villa, the prefect of Cochabamba, lost the vote but said he would ignore it because it was illegal.

Today's best video

Today in pictures