Bolivian Socialist set to become president

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia -- Bolivia's socialist presidential candidate, Evo Morales, who has promised to become Washington's ''nightmare," said his victory was assured in yesterday's elections after exit polls showed him with a strong lead.

If the projected margin holds, Morales, a coca farmer who has said he will end a US-backed antidrug campaign aimed at eradicating the crop used to make cocaine, will probably be declared president in January over his conservative opponent. ''If [the US] wants relations, welcome," Morales said after voting, holding a news conference where piles of coca leaves were spread atop a Bolivian flag. ''But no to a relationship of submission."

Celebrations erupted among Morales's supporters after polls showed him with a decisive lead over former president Jorge Quiroga, who had been backed by Bolivia's business elite.

Morales thanked a cheering crowd for what he called his ''great triumph," but tempered that by saying he would await official results confirming the outcome.

''I am very content, very emotional about this," he said.

According to projections by the Equipso Mori exit poll, Morales had 45 percent of the vote and Quiroga had 33 percent. A second exit poll by the private Ipsos Captura organization showed Morales with a slightly narrower projected lead of 44.5 percent to 34 percent for Quiroga. Minor candidates were getting the rest.

First official results from the National Electoral Court were not expected until at least today, authorities said, citing delays in gathering the official voting acts from more than 20,000 sites.

Morales, 46, counts Cuba's Fidel Castro and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez among his friends, along with leftists in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay who have gained power at the ballot box this decade.

After the exit polls were released, a reporter at Morales's home in Cochabamba said Morales immediately received a phone call from Chavez.

If Morales does not win more than 50 percent of the popular vote, Bolivia's newly elected congress must decide the presidency.

Quiroga, 45, said he would respect the decision of lawmakers and hoped that the congressional process would not lead to the sort of crippling street protests Morales had led in the past.

''I publicly and openly congratulate Don Evo Morales . . . for his electoral result," Quiroga said on television.