Autonomy for Bolivian province shows promise

Election results released Monday showed a controversial statute that would grant autonomy to Bolivia's richest province had built an overwhelming lead in Sunday's violence-marred referendum and was on its way to victory.

The results thrilled leaders in the eastern Bolivian province of Santa Cruz, who had defied President Evo Morales by putting the statute up for a vote. The statute would give the province powers equivalent to that of a U.S. state, such as the right to form its own police, set tax and land-use policies and elect a governor. Most state functions are now centralized in Bolivia's federal government.

Morales, a close ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, has called the statute separatist and illegal and warned Santa Cruz leaders not to implement it.

His spokesman, Iván Canelas, however, took a softer approach Monday by inviting Santa Cruz's prefect, who is the equivalent of a governor, and other prefects from the country's nine provinces to discuss the idea of provincial autonomies.

Three other eastern Bolivian provinces, Beni, Pando and Tarija, will vote on similar autonomy statutes in forthcoming weeks.

Ana María Romero de Campero, the director of the democracy-building group Fundación Unir Bolivia, said the next few days will be crucial to determining whether the two sides choose negotiation over confrontation.

''There needs to be a big effort nationwide now because we're seeing a very strong polarization, not just politically but regionally,'' Romero de Campero said. ``Right now, the political center is never expressed.''