You are here

Bolivia''s VP quoted as giving assurance against nationalization of mining

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Mark Stevenson
Associated Press
Wednesday, May 3, 2006

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060503/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/mexico_election
s

The leftist former front-runner in Mexico's presidential race is
watching his advantage crumble to the conservative ruling-party
candidate, raising doubts that Mexico will be the latest Latin
America nation to veer to the left.

Two months before the election, a series of polls shows a steady
decline for Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The former Mexico City
mayor is idolized by many poor Mexicans and feared by many of the
rich, who worry he would set Mexico on the anti-free market path of
Venezuela and Bolivia.

Poll after recent poll has shown Lopez Obrador's lead declining or
disappearing. One published Wednesday by the newspaper Reforma
showed him trailing ruling-party candidate Felipe Calderon 40
percent to 33 percent -- the first time a major poll has shown
somebody with a statistically significant lead over Lopez Obrador.
Roberto Madrazo, of the former ruling Institutional Revolutionary
Party, or PRI, was third, with 22 percent. The poll had a margin of
error of 2.3 percentage points.

In March, Lopez Obrador led Calderon 41 to 31 percent.

The former Mexico City mayor is blaming the media and pollsters for
the slide.

But many analysts say Lopez Obrador's worst enemy is his
confrontational, stubborn nature -- which may have led him to skip a
nationally televised April 25 debate, which the other candidates
attended.

Lopez Obrador's justification for missing the debate was that he
didn't want to interrupt a whistle-stop campaign, where he is often
greeted like a conquering hero and draped with flower garlands.

"I don't know if it's his personality, or what," said Carlos Cruz, a
23-year university student eating a sandwich at a downtown stand
Wednesday. "But he's not very humble. He seems arrogant,
domineering."

Cruz looks like a logical Lopez Obrador supporter, wearing a
ponytail, black T-shirt, and jeans. But he doesn't think the leftist
is going to win.

"It's not so much Calderon's gain in the polls, as it was his (Lopez
Obrador's) absence at the debate," he said.

The day after the debate, Lopez Obrador reacted sardonically to a
poll showing him falling slightly behind Calderon, who represents
President Vicente Fox's National Action Party.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha. I'd like to see someone who actually believes their
polls," Lopez Obrador told supporters.

While the news has gotten worse, Lopez Obrador's response has
remained as defiant, even angry, as ever.

"Their media campaign and their publishing rigged polls is not going
to work," he told supporters Tuesday. "I am sure we're heading for
victory."

National Action has spent heavily on advertisements depicting Lopez
Obrador as a radical and "a danger to Mexico." Lopez Obrador has
seemingly played into that, publicly telling Fox to "shut up," and
referring to the president and other critics as "chachalacas,"
notoriously noisy birds.

Lopez Obrador has "been digging his grave with his tongue," said
George Grayson, a Mexico expert at the College of William & Mary.

"He's getting very testy, because a messiah is supposed to be adored
by the people," Grayson said. "He can't reconcile the fact that he's
the redeemer for the Mexican masses with the fact that he's either
running neck-and-neck or behind."

Lopez Obrador still has a core of dedicated, almost adoring
followers.

"They can say whatever they want, they're not going to change my
mind. I like him. I'm voting for Lopez Obrador," said Maria Felix
Osorio, 36, an employee at a Mexico City clothing store.

The leftist could rebound in the polls in the second debate,
scheduled for June 6, which he has promised to attend.

----------------------------------------------------

To subscribe to GATA's dispatches, send an e-mail to:

gata-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to:

gata-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Caution: America Online prohibits delivery of GATA
dispatches to AOL e-mailboxes.

----------------------------------------------------

RECOMMENDED INTERNET SITES
FOR DAILY MONITORING OF GOLD
AND PRECIOUS METALS
NEWS AND ANALYSIS

Free sites:

http://www.jsmineset.com

http://www.cbs.marketwatch.com

http://www.mineweb.com/

http://www.gold-eagle.com/

http://www.kitco.com/

http://www.usagold.com/

http://www.usagold.com/amk/usagoldmarketupdate.html

http://www.GoldSeek.com/

http://www.GoldReview.com/

http://www.capitalupdates.com/

http://www.DailyReckoning.com

http://www.goldenbar.com/

http://www.silver-investor.com

http://www.thebulliondesk.com/

http://www.sharelynx.com/

http://www.mininglife.com/

http://www.financialsense.com

http://www.goldensextant.com

http://www.goldismoney.info/index.html

http://www.howestreet.com

http://www.depression2.tv

http://www.moneyfiles.org/

http://www.howestreet.com

http://www.minersmanual.com/minernews.html

http://www.a1-guide-to-gold-investments.com/euro-vs-dollar.html

http://www.goldcolony.com

http://www.miningstocks.com

http://www.mineralstox.com

http://www.freemarketnews.com

http://www.321gold.com

http://www.SilverSeek.com

http://www.investmentrarities.com

http://www.kereport.com
(Korelin Business Report -- audio)

http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/home.htm
(In Spanish)
http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/plata/english.htm
(In English)

http://www.resourceinvestor.com

http://www.miningmx.com

http://www.prudentbear.com

http://www.dollarcollapse.com

http://www.kitcocasey.com

http://000999.forumactif.com/

http://www.golddrivers.com/

http://www.goldpennystocks.com/

http://www.oroyfinanzas.com/

Subscription sites:

http://www.lemetropolecafe.com/

http://www.goldinsider.com/

http://www.hsletter.com

http://www.interventionalanalysis.com

http://www.investmentindicators.com/

Eagle Ranch discussion site:

http://os2eagle.net/checksum.htm

Ted Butler silver commentary archive:

http://www.investmentrarities.com/

----------------------------------------------------

COIN AND PRECIOUS METALS DEALERS
WHO HAVE SUPPORTED GATA
AND BEEN RECOMMENDED
BY OUR MEMBERS

Blanchard & Co. Inc.
909 Poydras St., Suite 1900
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
888-413-4653
http://www.blanchardonline.com

Centennial Precious Metals
Box 460009
Denver, Colorado 80246-0009
1-800-869-5115
http://www.USAGOLD.com
Michael Kosares, Proprietor
cpm@usagold.com

Colorado Gold
222 South 5th St.
Montrose, Colorado 81401
http://www.ColoradoGold.com
Don Stott, Proprietor
1-888-786-8822
Gold@gwe.net

El Dorado Discount Gold
Box 11296
Glendale, Arizona 85316
http://www.eldoradogold.net
Harvey Gordin, President
Office: 623-434-3322
Mobile: 602-228-8203
harvey@eldoradogold.net

Gold & Silver Investments Ltd.
Mespil House
37 Adelaide Rd
Dublin 2
Ireland
+353 1 2315260/6
Fax: +353 1 2315202
http://www.goldinvestments.org
info@gold.ie

Investment Rarities Inc.
7850 Metro Parkway
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55425
http://www.gloomdoom.com
Greg Westgaard, Sales Manager
1-800-328-1860, Ext. 8889
gwestgaard@investmentrarities.com

Kitco
178 West Service Road
Champlain, N.Y. 12919
Toll Free:1-877-775-4826
Fax: 518-298-3457
and
620 Cathcart, Suite 900
Montreal, Quebec H3B 1M1
Canada
Toll-free:1-800-363-7053
Fax: 514-875-6484
http://www.kitco.com

Lee Certified Coins
P.O. Box 1045
454 Daniel Webster Highway
Merrimack, New Hampshire 03054
http://www.certifiedcoins.com
Ed Lee, Proprietor
1-800-835-6000
leecoins@aol.com

Lone Star Silver Exchange
1702 S. Highway 121
Suite 607-111
Lewisville, Texas 75067
214-632-8869
http://www.discountsilverclub.com

MRCS Canada
12303-118 Ave. NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5L 2K2
Canada
http://www.mrcscanada.com
Michael Riedel, Proprietor
1-877-TRY-MRCS
1-877-879-6727
mrcscanada@shaw.ca

Miles Franklin Ltd.
3015 Ottawa Ave. South
St. Louis Park, Minn. 55416
1-800-822-8080 / 952-929-1129
fax: 952-925-0143
http://www.milesfranklin.com
Contacts: David Schectman,
Andy Schectman, and Bob Sichel

Missouri Coin Co.
11742 Manchester Road
St. Louis, MO 63131-4614
info@mocoin.com
314-965-9797
1-800-280-9797
http://www.mocoin.com

Resource Consultants Inc.
6139 South Rural Road
Suite 103
Tempe, Arizona 85283-2929
Pat Gorman, Proprietor
1-800-494-4149, 480-820-5877
Metalguys@aol.com
http://www.buysilvernow.com

Richard Nachbar Rare Coins
5820 Main St., Suite 601
Williamsville, N.Y. 14221-8232
877-622-4227
http://www.CoinExpert.com
nachbar@coinexpert.com

Swiss America Trading Corp.
15018 North Tatum Blvd.
Phoenix, Arizona 85032
http://www.swissamerica.com
Dr. Fred I. Goldstein, Senior Broker
1-800-BUY-COIN
FiGoldstein@swissamerica.com

The Moneychanger
Box 178
Westpoint, Tennessee 38486
http://www.the-moneychanger.com
Franklin Sanders
1-888-218-9226, 931-766-6066

----------------------------------------------------

HOW TO HELP GATA

If you benefit from GATA's dispatches, please
consider making a financial contribution to
GATA. We welcome contributions as follows.

By check:

Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
c/o Chris Powell, Secretary/Treasurer
7 Villa Louisa Road
Manchester, CT 06043-7541
USA

By credit card (MasterCard, Visa, and
Discover) over the Internet:

http://www.gata.org/creditcard.html

By GoldMoney:

http://www.GoldMoney.com
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Holding number 50-08-58-L

Donors of $200 or more will receive copies
of "The ABCs of Gold Investing" by Michael
Kosares, proprietor of Centennial Precious
Metals in Denver, Colorado, and "The Coming
Collapse of the Dollar" by James Turk and
John Rubino.

GATA is a civil rights and educational
organization under the U.S. Internal Revenue
Code and contributions to it are tax-deductible
in the United States.