Voters in this restive Bolivian province go to the polls today in a bid for greater autonomy that is a direct challenge to the leftist government of President Evo Morales.
The president calls the election an illegal maneuver by wealthy "oligarchs" intent on breaking away from Bolivia and creating a pro-U.S. protectorate in the country's resource-rich eastern lowlands.
But supporters say the balloting is meant to preserve regional rights in the face of what they call a march toward authoritarianism and expropriation of private land. They expect autonomy to strengthen their hand with the federal government on thorny issues such as land reform, distribution of natural gas royalties and a new constitution.
"We are not separatists. We are loyal Bolivians," said congressman Walter Javier Arrazola, a pro-autonomy lawmaker in Santa Cruz. "But we don't believe in Evo Morales' 'neo-communist' plan for our country."
Bolivia has become a key battleground in the ideological tug of war between the Bush administration and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a key ally of Morales. Like Chavez, Morales has nationalized key industries, assailed alleged U.S. meddling and sought to rewrite his country's constitution.
Chavez has labeled Bolivia's autonomy vote "Operation Kosovo," referring to the breakaway former province of Serbia. He and Cuba's Fidel Castro have said Bolivia faces a grave danger of breakup.
Morales has publicly alleged that the U.S. ambassador in La Paz, Philip Goldberg, heads a "conspiracy" to oust him.
U.S. officials deny abetting any plot to topple the democratically elected Morales, who rose to prominence representing growers of coca, from which cocaine is made.
Washington says it supports Bolivia's territorial integrity.
"We are committed to the territorial unity of all the countries of the region," the State Department's top Latin America diplomat, Thomas Shannon, said in an interview published Friday in the Madrid daily El Pais. "At the same time we are in favor of the expression in a democratic manner of the interests of the different groups and sectors."
Polls indicate the autonomy measure will pass by a wide margin, perhaps garnering as much as 70% of the votes in Santa Cruz, home to about 2.5 million of Bolivia's 9 million people. Anti-autonomy leaders are urging residents to abstain from voting.
