玻利维亚总统有望继续连任

Bolivian President Evo Morales is heading for a second term with a convincing victory in Sunday's election, exit polls suggest.

民意调查显示，玻利维亚总统Evo Morales在星期天的选举中强势胜出，有希望连任。

The left-wing Evo Morales is known as the "peasant president"

They suggest Bolivia's first indigenous土著的，本土的 leader polled at least 61% of the vote, defeating his conservative rivals.

Mr Morales had promised to expand state control over the economy and redistribute重新分配 profits from the gas industry if re-elected.

A referendum公民投票，请示书 earlier backed changes to allow presidents to seek a second term.

'Totalitarian' ambitions

Mr Morales, 50, won between 61% and 63% of the vote, avoiding a run-off, the exit polls suggest.

They indicate that his main rival Manfred Reyes Villa, a former governor, secured about 23%.

The BBC's Andres Schipani in La Paz says the exit polls民意调查 also suggest the president is set to take control of the upper house of Congress from the opposition.

Official results are expected in the coming days.

Foreign observers have praised the election for its transparency透明度 and fairness.

Mr Morales's support base is chiefly among poor indigenous people who account for some 65% of the population - in contrast to his challengers.

"He's changing things. He's helping the poor and building highways and schools," Veronica Canizaya, a 49-year-old housewife, told Reuters news agency before casting her vote at a public school on the shores of Lake Titicaca.

Analysts say a victory for Mr Morales will solidify凝固，团结 his dominance in Bolivian politics and weaken the split conservative opposition tied to the business elite.

His other challenger was Samuel Doria Medina, a wealthy businessman.

Both challengers accused Mr Morales of having "totalitarian极权主义的" ambitions for the country and of being responsible for the rise in cocaine production, says our correspondent, Andres Schipani.

Mr Morales told crowds at his final campaign rally: "There are two roads: continue with change or return to the past."