The jubilant crowds, chanting "Evo, brother, the people are with you", that gathered in front of Bolivia's presidential palace on August 10th appeared to sense that their country's socialist president had notched up an important victory in a recall referendum that might have seen him chucked out of office after just 30 months. And so it proved: with 96% of the ballots counted, Evo Morales and his vice-president, Alvaro Garcia Linera, had won the backing of 68% of the voters, substantially more than the 54% they gained in the presidential election of December 2005. A high turnout (of 84%) meant that, all in all, the referendum amounted to a resounding endorsement of Mr Morales, an ally of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, and his plans to "re-found" Bolivia.
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