La Paz - Bolivian President Evo Morales Thursday set the date for a national referendum on a controversial new constitution, which threatens to further split the country.

Morales will seek approval for the new constitution, a key element of his reform agenda, on December 7. An election of prefects for the regions of La Paz and Cochabamba as well as local representatives was scheduled for the same day.

La Paz - The official results were still not in late Monday, but Bolivian President Evo Morales has already claimed victory in a referendum on whether he should retain power.

According to exit polls cited by television network ATB and other Bolivian media, Morales survived the recall referendum Sunday, by obtaining 56.7 per cent of the votes.

His mandate would have been revoked had he failed to get at least 46.3 per cent of the votes.

On Monday, the confident government asked the opposition to remain calm, understand the implications of the results and accept the offer for dialogue that Morales made late Sunday.

Buenos Aires/La Paz - Sunday's recall election of Bolivian President Evo Morales and other leaders is the latest in a series of showdown referenda, between the leftist president and the country's wealthy provinces, over regional autonomy.

Since Morales' election in 2005, the country's first Indio president has pushed through a new constitution and enacted a series of socialist reforms to aid the poor native population in the mountainous west.

La Paz - At least 47 people died Tuesday when a truck fell down a 180-metre ravine near the southern Bolivian city of Potosi, 480 kilometres south of La Paz, Bolivian road police said.

La Paz  - At least 30 people died Tuesday in a traffic accident near the southern Bolivian city of Potosi, 480 kilometres south of La Paz, Bolivian road police said.

A truck carrying some 50 people fell down a 180-metre ravine, the Erbol radio network reported. Thirty of the passengers died and the remaining 20 were severely injured, the radio said citing eyewitnesses.

The accident happened near the town of Yocalla, 51 kilometros north-east of Bolivia's mining city Potosi. The truck was taking people from Potosi to a rural place in the same province and crashed in an area where the winding road is flanked by 180-250-metre deep ravines.

La Paz - Residents of the Tarija province in southern Bolivia favoured more autonomy by a large majority Sunday in a non- binding referendum that Bolivian President Evo Morales considers illegal.