Far-left and strongly anti-U.S. Evo Morales has won a decisive victory as president of Bolivia with over 50% of the popular vote, preventing any moves in Congress to deliver the election to any other candidate.

There was nothing fraudulent about it, and voter turnout was an amazing 80%. Bolivians who are celebrating this are happy because Morales is the first-ever indigenous Aymara president the nation has ever had. For people who have been shut out from the existing system, for whatever reason, it’s a great step forward to see one of their own in the highest office in the land.

But there is no question that this is not necessarily good news for the U.S.

In his victory speech, Morales has vowed to challenge the U.S., saying ‘long live coca, no to the yanquis.’ As recently as two days ago, Morales vowed to be “the United States’ worst nightmare.” He also vowed to ‘defeat the U.S. economic blockade’ which must be a line from Fidel Castro, as there is no U.S. economic blockade against Bolivia, other than the one Morales himself will create with his rejection of the free trade of the Americas agreement – something unlikely to make a difference in the U.S. Bloomberg reports that he has targetted Exxon and British Gas as his enemies two days ago. Morales also took this opportunity to denounce the ill-defined concept known as ‘neo-liberalism,’ which probably means IMF aid, but is also a code word for the U.S., which runs the IMF. Disliking neo-liberalism is one of those things that, if carefully defined, I usually hate, too. But this should not be confused with capital-L liberalism which is a different animal altogether and requires no IMF.

With fireworks and dancing in the streets of Bolivia’s large cities, Bolivia’s voters are pretty happy – it was a fair election, and won quite fairly, too. But it’s also certain that they are celebrating in places where elections are not fair or even existent, like Miraflores Palace in Caracas tonight, as well as in the hidden palaces of Havana. Hugo Chavez, who’s just gotten done destroying democracy in Venezuela, has been the first to congratulate Morales.

Morales failed to win a majority in Congress, however, which may mean difficulties for him in nationalizing the country’s energy industry.

Meanwhile, the excellent Knight Ridder reports that industrious Santa Cruz province is more defiant than ever about seceding, and taking its natural gas with it, setting a stage for potential civil war. Green flags of independence are being noted amid victory speeches in Santa Cruz. This is getting scary. The story is here.

Roundup from the blogs…

Miguel Buitrago at MABB has his first analysis, saying that Evo Morales’ victory was decisive, despite a few glitches, but he still has an opposition to contend with in Congress and will have to get along. He notes that third-place finisher Samuel Dorian Medina is still declaring he won’t compromise with any other parties, something that isn’t helpful in a democracy. It’s well worth reading here.

Boz at Bloggings by Boz has five salient points about Evo Morales. He thinks the U.S. should try to get along with the guy, focus on how much cocaine is coming out of Bolivia (rather than Morales’ coca legalization) and not cut off aid. As one who thinks the aid is what brought us Morales in the first place, I disagree on that point but think the U.S. probably will try to get along with Morales as Boz suggests they do. There is no other choice than to try at this point. Morales can take the initiative on the anti-Americanism which there is no reason to believe he won’t do at some point. It’s a good analysis. Read it here.

Academic Elephant at Elephants In Academia has a bit more, along with a truly great headline, here.

Eduardo Avila at Barrio Flores has information on possible election irregularities and a few small items about the scenes around the television stations as the votes were being counted here.

Randy Paul at Beautiful Horizons thinks Lula might have learned sympathy for Morales from his own experience governing, and notes that the patience of Morales’ supporters could wear thin if he doesn’t deliver on their expectations. Read it here.

Edward at Fistful of Euros has a fascinating analysis saying that Morales’ victory is a product of Bolivia’s demography more than democracy. The item is here.

Vinnie at Jawa Report is firm in saying this is not something the U.S. should worry about, as Bolivians will only be hurting themselves with this vote – ‘What are they going to do, cut off our llama supply?’ one of his commenters asks. He thinks the U.S. should probably laugh at the guy, not cry about this. His perspective is here.