By Eduardo Garcia LA PAZ, Oct 6 (Reuters) - President Evo Morales will forge ahead with his leftist reforms opposed by rightist governors after talks to ease political tensions collapsed and revealed his rivals have few options left to derail his plans. More than two weeks of negotiations broke down late on Sunday, but Morales has shown no signs of backtracking on the issue at the heart of the conflict: implementing a leftist constitution. The long-running conflict escalated last month into deadly clashes between supporters of Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous leader, and backers of the governors opposed to his anti-capitalist and pro-Indian reforms. At least 19 people were killed. But even before the talks floundered, Morales signaled he would press ahead with plans to call for a vote over a draft constitution he says will grant more rights to the long-neglected Indian majority. "We know exactly where the government is heading, what we don't know is what the opposition can do," says Eduardo Gamarra a politics professor at the Latin American and Caribbean Center at Florida International University. The constitution will help Morales make good on his campaign pledges to redistribute land to the poor and boost state control over natural resources. But his foes in the country's more prosperous eastern states say they fear he wants to install Cuban-style communism. The governors, who are also demanding more autonomy and a larger share of the country's booming energy revenues, insist the constitution will clear the way for Morales to become an autocrat. REFERENDUM Last week, Morales said he will send a bill to Congress shortly to call for a referendum on the constitutional draft approved last year in an elected assembly boycotted by opposition parties. That will set up a showdown. Morales' Movement Toward Socialism party controls the lower house, but the opposition holds a majority in the Senate. After staging sometimes-violent protests, Morales' rivals have lost support among middle-class backers in eastern and central regions, says Kathryn Ledebur, head of the Andean Information Network think tank. "They need to change their strategy," she said. The constitution was a major point of dissent during the talks, and the government refused to substantially change the draft, saying the governors were the mouthpiece of "a minority". Morales' popularity is high. He won 67 percent in a recall vote in August. The Indian president draws most of his support from Bolivia's poor western highlands, and opposition to his policies is strongest in the east, home to rich natural gas deposits, fertile farmland and a European-descended elite. But the governors who oppose him also won recall votes in August, emboldening them to step up their protests against his policies. The failure to reach a wide-ranging agreement may rekindle protests. Morales, a staunch ally of Venezuela's anti-U.S. leader Hugo Chavez, says the turmoil last month was part of a plan to overthrow him. Morales' supporters have vowed to rally to Bolivia's administrative capital La Paz next week to press lawmakers to ratify the referendum bill. Morales has also said he would like to call a general election next year once the constitution is approved -- a move that could further strengthen him politically. (Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
Supporters of Bolivia's President Evo Morales march in Montero near Santa Cruz, September 24, 2008. President Morales, confronting a political crisis at home, criticized the United States on Tuesday for backing ...
