Morales wins Bolivian election

LA PAZ, Bolivia, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Leftist incumbent Evo Morales won Bolivia's presidential election as expected Sunday, receiving almost two-thirds of the votes cast, exit polls projected.

Morales, 50, is the first indigenous president and had strong support from the indigenous majority, which comprises more than 60 percent of the South American nation's population, The New York Times reported. Exit polls showed him receiving 62 percent of the vote, CNN reported.

Morales, an ally of leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, earned a second five-year term in an election in which his chief rivals were Manfred Reyes Villa, a former army officer, and Samuel Doria Medina, who made his fortune in the cement business. A constitutional referendum this year allowed him to seek a second term.

Morales gained popularity with Bolivia's indigenous people by nationalizing the natural gas industry in 2006 and redistributing profits to the poor. Morales had said in a second term, he would develop his country's vast lithium reserves and start state cement, dairy, fertilizer and pharmaceutical companies, the BBC reported.