Mesa cries foul; turmoil flares in Bolivia after Morales declared official winner
Record ID:
1438657
Mesa cries foul; turmoil flares in Bolivia after Morales declared official winner
- Title: Mesa cries foul; turmoil flares in Bolivia after Morales declared official winner
- Date: 25th October 2019
- Summary: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (OCTOBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MARCH TOWARDS SUPREME ELECTORAL COURT MAN WAVING FLAG FROM ROOFTOP VARIOUS OF MARCH CARDBOARD BOX SHAPED LIKE COFFIN VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING RIOT POLICEMEN IN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RESIDENT, DELIA BUSTILLOS, SAYING: (NIGHT SHOTS) "I am protesting because I want my country free, because I want Bolivia to not live in a dictatorship." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING IN STREET PROTESTERS SHOUTING AT POLICE (Spanish) "JOIN US" RIOT POLICEMEN LOOKING ON YOUNGSTERS GATHERED (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MIGUEL ROCA, LAWMAKER FROM COMUNIDAD CIUDADANA PARTY, SAYING: "The pacification of the country is the second round because that is what the constitution mandates, so the laws command it, the people have expressed it. The second round is our peace to settle this difference that the Bolivian people have, settle it in peace and with the majority." UNREST IN LA PAZ
- Embargoed: 8th November 2019 02:52
- Keywords: Bolivia election Morales Mesa reaction final count
- Location: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
- City: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
- Country: Bolivia
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA003B2LHR2F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Unrest unravelled in La Paz on Thursday (October 24) after a final vote tally by Bolivia's electoral board gave President Evo Morales an outright win in the first-round election, with 47.07% of ballots compared to 36.51% for runner-up Carlos Mesa, data on the board's website showed.
Mesa cried foul and urged the general population to continue protesting peacefully.
Morales' 10.56 point lead with 99.99% of votes counted means he does not have to face Mesa, a former president, in a riskier second round run-off, after a disputed race in which the opposition has alleged fraud and Morales has accused rivals of staging a "coup."
A spokeswoman for Bolivia's electoral board said 0.01% votes have been voided in the region of Beni with new voting there scheduled for November. She added they are not enough to change the outcome. The president of the electoral office in Beni said a little over 500 people will vote again due to the annulments.
With the official result, Morales, already Latin America's longest-serving president, wins a fourth term in a row, allowing him to govern the landlocked South American country through 2025 for a total of 19 years.
(Production: Santiago Limachi, Monica Machicao, Herbert Villarraga, Geraldine Downer) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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