LA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivian voters embraced a new constitution Sunday that promises more power for the long-suffering indigenous majority and grants leftist President Evo Morales a shot at remaining in office through 2014.
The charter passed easily in a country where many can still recall when Indians were forbidden to vote, but its sometimes vague wording and resistance from Bolivia’s mestizo and European-descended minority foreshadows more political turmoil in this polarized Andean nation.
The proposed constitution was backed by 56.8 percent of voters, with more than 90 percent of precincts reporting, according to a quick count by a private polling company. Sunday’s vote went peacefully, a relief for a nation where tensions over race and class have recently turned deadly.
The proposed document would create a new Congress with seats reserved for Bolivia’s smaller indigenous groups and eliminates any mention of the Roman Catholic Church, instead recognizing and honoring the Andean earth deity Pachamama.
Opposition leaders warn that the constitution does not reflect Bolivia’s growing urban population, which mixes Indian blood and tradition with a new Western identity, and could leave non-Indians out of the picture.
The charter calls for a general election in December in which Morales could run for a second consecutive five-year term. The current constitution permits two terms, but not consecutively.
At the heart of the proposed constitution is a provision granting autonomy for 36 indigenous “nations” and several opposition-controlled eastern states. With an eye to redistributing territory, the constitution also limits future land holdings.
