LA PAZ, Dec. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- The governments of Venezuela, Chile, and Argentina sent congratulatory messages to Evo Morales on Monday after exit polls showed he had garnered 51.1 percent of thevote in the Bolivian presidential election.

    Morales, 46, leader of the Movement Toward Socialism, will become Bolivia's first president from an indigenous background if his victory is confirmed by the country's electoral authorities.

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was the first to congratulate him after Sunday's voting. Chavez reached Morales by phone and told him he would share the good news with Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

    Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said Morales's victory was a victory for social inclusion and victory for people who had been denied for centuries, in apparent reference to the Indio Bolivians.

    Chilean President Ricardo Lagos also welcomed Morales' victory, saying that Morales' triumph means the two countries will get closer diplomatically.

    The two countries have no diplomatic relations since 1978 because of a land dispute. Bolivia demands that Chile return the land linking Bolivia to the sea, which Chile seized in the War of the Pacific (1879-1883).

    Lagos also spoke by telephone to Eduardo Rodriguez, the acting Bolivian president, to congratulate him on a successful election.

    An Argentine cabinet minister said that the Bolivian electoral results were an important victory which would create conditions for better economic cooperation on the continent.

    The press across Latin America described Morales' victory as historic, representing the fulfillment of the dreams of millions of Bolivians.

    Morales has vowed to legalize coca-leaf growing for traditionaluses such as tea, and pledged to nationalize the country's rich natural gas resources.

    Morales said he was opposed to cocaine trafficking but defended the right to grow coca-leaf. Enditem