Evo Morales, the newly elected president of Bolivia, said he will follow through on promises to keep the country independent of the United States.
Morales, 46, an Aymara coca farmer, said he would halt a U.S.-backed program to eradicate the crop. He supports nationalization of the country's gas reserves and backs initiatives for Bolivia's poor and indigenous citizens.
Morales' party, the Movement Toward Socialism, made other gains in Sunday's election. According to The New York Times, the party won nearly half the 27 seats in the Senate, up to half the 130 seats in the lower house and at least two of nine governorships.
Get the Story:(The Los Angeles Times 12/20)
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For Bolivian Victor, A Powerful Mandate (The Washington Post 12/20)
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Bolivia's Newly Elected Leader Maps His Socialist Agenda (The New York Times 12/20)
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