The Post-Revocatoria news

Yesterday was the "revocatoria" or recall vote on Bolivia's President, Evo Morales and all nine of the regional governors. Despite recent protests and rallies (including one here at the airport in Trinidad that prevented Evo from landing with Hugo Chavez), the day was peaceful. The results were that Evo retains his office with 63% of the voters in favor. Four of the nine departments voted heavily against Evo though (Beni (where Trinidad is), Santa Cruz, Chuquisaca and Tarija). Three governors were voted out, those of La Paz (who was not part of Evo's MAS party and had spoken out against him quite a bit), Cochabamba (Manfred Reyes Villa who was responsible for the death of 2 people on the streets of Cochabamba last January) and Oruro (where a recent police shooting took place). However, all of the key oppositions governors - Ruben Costas (Santa Cruz), Ernesto Suarez (Beni) and the governor of Tarija were approved with overwhelming support.

Evo gave a speech after the unofficial results congratulating Bolivians on completing a historic day without violence. It was respectful and he indicated at least in his speech to work for a "united Bolivia" specifically naming all nine departments. How serious he is, we'll see in coming weeks and months. Clearly now, Evo is riding a lot of momentum and my guess is that his next move will be to ratify the new Constitution. How things unfold depends entirely on how the opposition reacts, but for the time being we can expect status quo - strikes, protests and road blockades.

Keep Bolivia in your prayers, this is a very sensitive situation and is far from over. . .