Morales wins Bolivia's presidential election

Evo Morales has won Bolivia's presidential election to be the first indigenous president of the Andean country, the electoral court announced Wednesday, quoting official results giving him the majority of the vote.

With nearly all of the votes officially counted, Morales had 54. 2 percent of the vote in Sunday's election, while former president Jorge Quiroga received 28.6 percent and industrialist Samuel Doria Medina, 7.8 percent.

The simple majority gave Morales, an activist leader of coca- growers, the right to rule and sidestep a congressional decision between him and conservative rival Quiroga in mid-January.

Turnout had averaged almost 85 percent, much higher than in previous Bolivian elections, official results showed.

The 46-year-old Aymara Indian would be Bolivia's first Indian president, marking a historic turning point in a country traditionally governed by the non-Indian elite.

Source: Xinhua