Bolivia's Morales gets his party's 2014 re-election nod
March 28, 2012 - Washington Post (AP)

By Associated Press
LA PAZ, Bolivia -- Bolivia's governing Movement Toward Socialism party has unanimously backed President Evo Morales' candidacy for re-election, though the vote doesn't come until December 2014.

Party Chairman Victor Ramirez announced the result of the Wednesday's vote by delegates in Cochabamba, Morales' stronghold near where he rose up as a coca growers leader.

Morales' re-election eligibility has generated controversy.

The constitution that Bolivian voters approved in early 2009 restricts a president to two consecutive terms.

Morales was first elected in 2005. He insists his first term doesn't apply because his 2009 re-election was under the new constitution.