Bolivia's Morales easily wins recall vote

By Simon Gardner and Eduardo Garcia

LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivian President Evo Morales easily won a recall vote on Sunday and vowed to push on with socialist reforms that his rightist opponents in South America's poorest country are trying to block.

The election pitted Morales against governors who have pushed for autonomy for their resource-rich provinces and are furious that he has cut their share of windfall natural gas revenues.

Morales, a former coca leaf farmer who is Bolivia's first Indian leader, hopes his victory will allow him to forge ahead with changes like nationalizations, land redistribution and a constitution that aims to give more power to the poor.

But his main rivals also won recall votes on Sunday, meaning the conflict will continue and could get worse as both sides feel they have won a new mandate to stand firm.

"What the Bolivian people have expressed with their votes today is the consolidation of change," a beaming Morales told thousands of cheering supporters who gathered outside his presidential palace in La Paz.

"We're here to move forward with the recovery of our natural resources, the consolidation of nationalization, and the state takeover of companies."

Unofficial exit polls said Morales secured more than 60 percent of the vote -- far higher than the 53.7 percent he won when he was elected president in December 2005.

Supporters of Morales and of the main opposition governors alike took to the streets waving banners, chanting, dancing and setting off fire crackers after a peaceful vote that contrasted with violent protests earlier in the week.