Hundreds of peasants take part in a demonstration against Santa CruzÕs autonomy referendum, in San Julian, some 150 km north from Santa Cruz on May 3.

Bolivia’s largest and richest state voted amid scattered violence Sunday to seek greater autonomy from the government of leftist President Evo Morales, who dismissed the referendum as a failure, AP said.
The eastern lowland state of Santa Cruz, center of Bolivia’s conservative opposition, had called the vote in hopes of separating the state’s freewheeling capitalism and mixed-blood heritage from Morales’ push for a communal state ruled by Indian values.
In the face of local exit polls showing 85 percent of voters favoring the measure, Morales claimed that as many as half the ballots were invalid, quoting media reports.
“The referendum failed completely,“ he said in a nationally televised address.
But he ended his remarks with an invitation for more talks with autonomy leaders.
“Let’s work together tomorrow for a true autonomy,“ he added.
“For the people, and not just certain groups--an autonomy that permits the people to decide their destiny.“
Santa Cruz leaders want to keep a bigger slice of the state’s key natural gas revenues and to shelter vast soy plantations and cattle ranches from Morales’ plan to redistribute land to the poor.

Decentralization
Morales, the country’s first indigenous president, argues that he needs a strong central government to spread Santa Cruz’s wealth to the rest of Bolivia, South America’s poorest country.
Results will not be available for days. But Santa Cruz leaders declared Sunday night that voters embraced a growing tide of decentralization that could cripple Morales’ populist agenda.
“This is not the end of the process,“ said Santa Cruz Gov. Ruben Costas, addressing supporters gathered under the palm trees in the central plaza of the state’s namesake capital city. “With your vote, we have begun the most transcendental reform in national memory.“
This is while UPI reported that Morales called for dialogue with opposition governors pushing for autonomy, after one of the territories held a referendum resulting in landslide support for the measure.

Clashes
Minor clashes across Santa Cruz state injured at least 25 people during the vote, and relatives of a 70-year-old man said he was killed when police fired tear gas to break up one scuffle. The death could not be confirmed by authorities.
At least 20 people were hurt in clashes in the eastern province of Santa Cruz between autonomy supporters and opponents, according to officials. Morales congratulated protesters for trying to block the vote.
“I want to express my respect for the people of Santa Cruz for their resistance against this separatist referendum,“ Morales said. “The people are wise to defend legality, constitutionality and the struggle for equality between Bolivians.“
Three other eastern states--Beni, Pando and Tarija--hold autonomy votes next month.
No one is clear exactly how autonomy would alter Bolivia’s heavily centralized government, under which state governors were appointed by the president until 2005. The statutes up for approval Sunday create local powers common in many countries, including a state legislature and police force.
But Morales particularly objects to ambitious clauses that bear the distinct ring of nationhood: control of the state’s land distribution and the right to sign international treaties, among others.
Santa Cruz leaders insist that they have no intention of seceding. Secession would be an unlikely prospect for a right-wing state wedged between Morales’ leftist allies in Brazil and Argentina and whose main trading partner would still be Bolivia’s highland west.
Both sides have dismissed concerns by some international observers that the vote would drive a bitterly divided Bolivia into violence.

Chavez Comments
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused the United States and a Bolivian “oligarchy“ of fomenting violence at polling stations during Sunday’s controversial autonomy referendum in the Bolivian province of Santa Cruz, according to AFP.
“The violence is the responsibility of the (US) empire and the aggressive oligarchy of groups that assume names such as civil society but are fascists that march around with sticks, nails, stones, and firearms, terrorizing the public,“ Chavez said.
“We and the entire continent are worried about this aggression against Bolivia that comes from outside,“ he said in his weekly radio and television program.
“It is the politics of the empire, it is a blow against Bolivia and a blow against South America.“

Serbian President Boris Tadic has received death threats for “betraying the Serb people“ by seeking closer ties with the European Union despite its support for Kosovo’s secession, officials said on Monday.
Tadic, also the leader of the main pro-Western party, backed the signing of a Stabilization and Association Agreement last week over the objections of nationalists, who said it amounted to a recognition of independence for Serbia’s former province, Reuters reported.
“We are aware of the death threats President Tadic received,“ the state prosecutor’s office said on Monday. “Relevant state institutions are taking all measures necessary to protect the president and identify the perpetrators.“
The president’s office declined to comment on the threats. Serbian daily Blic quoted the text of a letter as saying Tadic would get a bullet to the head for betraying the country.
The secession of Kosovo, Serbia’s medieval heartland, polarized Serbian society between hardliners who want to freeze ties with the EU and pro-Western liberals who think there is a way to move towards membership and still not give up Kosovo.
The government, a coalition of Tadic’s Democrats with outgoing nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, collapsed under the strain. Campaigning ahead of the May 11 election has largely focused on the EU vs Kosovo dilemma.

Belarus is accusing the United States of recruiting citizens into a spy ring aimed at undermining this ex-Soviet republic.
The statement comes amid escalating tensions between the two countries, AP reported. Most of the US embassy employees have been expelled in recent months.
KGB spokesman Valery Nadtachayev told Belarusian television Monday that the US Embassy had hired 10 local citizens to take photographs of police officials, airports and villages near the state border.
The embassy has declined to comment.
The diplomats were expelled mainly after the US imposed sanctions on a state-controlled company and travel restrictions on President Alexander Lukashenko and top government officials.
Eleven US diplomats left Belarus Saturday after being expelled by the Minsk authorities, crossing the border into Lithuania just an hour before their deadline to leave expired.
The diplomatic spat is the latest in a series of incidents between the US and Belarus.