Unofficial election results indicate that Bolivian president Evo Morales has won a third term. According to exit polls, he received about 60 percent of the vote. His closest opponent, Samuel Doria Medina, received just 25 percent. Morales addressed to his supporters gathered outside the presidential palace shortly after the numbers were released. CCTV America’s Dan Collyns reports from La Paz.

Supporters poured onto the streets to celebrate a third presidential win for Bolivia’s first indigenous leader. After nearly nine years in office, he continues to be one of the region’s most consistently popular leaders.

The final election results aren’t yet out, but Morales’ supporters were already celebrating his victory in the main square in La Paz as they waited for him to address the nation from the balcony of the presidential palace.

Morales’ dedicated his victory to the Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, the late Venezuelan president. “There’s a great feeling not just in Bolivia, but in all Latin America and the Caribbean, a feeling of the liberation of our peoples. How long will we be submitted to the North America empire and capitalist systems. This triumph is for the anti-colonialists and anti-imperialists.” he said.

Morales is known for his anti-imperialist rhetoric, but it’s his government’s economic stewardship, spreading Bolivia’s natural gas and mineral wealth to the poor, which has been the real vote getter.

The festive mood was only dampened by the apparent failure of Morales’ “Movement Toward Socialism” party to retain its two-thirds control of congress. It would have allowed the party to push through a constitutional reform lifting the term limit on presidents that would allow him to run again.

In electing Evo Morales, Bolivians have opted for continuity in an unprecedented period of stability and growth. However, Morales may not have won the outright landslide that he predicted and may have to work to garner consensus. CCTV America’s Dan Collyns looks ahead to what challenges he may face over the next five years.

For more on Bolivia elections, CCTV America spoke with Kevin Healy. He worked as a grant officer at the Inter-American Foundation for over two decades where he funded grassroots development projects with NGO’s in Latin America and the Caribbean. He’s also written two books on development in Bolivia.