Ortega has created the perfect win-win situation for herself. She has upheld her principles in the task she was given...to protect the environment. If Hugo/Sanz side with her she wins. If on the other hand they reverse the denial they will have to find some way to extract promises and/or additional funds from KRY/GRZ for the environmental protection...make it look like the contracts/procedures changed.....and she wins as a protector of the environment.

No matter the outcome she comes out as an enviro hero while at the same time sticking it right in the face of Gordon Thompson. We all wondered if his comments in March were very bold and wise or very stupid....now we know.

So Ortega wins either way and that is why her statements were exactly the right move. This is the game of politics and I think she plays it better than any gave her credit for.

This also creates the perfect setup for Hugo demanding a bigger cut from KRY/GRZ without making them look like they are not honoring international contracts....afterall it is for the environment!

For our side, if Hugo chooses to uphold the permit denials he will put himself in the media as unfriendly to foreignors and have to answer the questions of why they approved the EIS and why they accepted tax/bond money. He becomes a bad guy not to mention making it difficult to get that gold. So much for a legacy.

If he reverses the denial but makes greater demands of KRY/GRZ he can show himslef as a hero and a champion for the environment. No one will think of it as extortion to change the terms of contracts. GRZ and KRY will not likely complain to reduced terms since they will at least get to continue.

This will be one of the greatest political coups I have seen or one of the biggest blunders. I suspect Hugo is not as stupid as people like our beloved president Bush believe, so I am putting my bet on a reversal. This will mean we probably won't make all the money we had hoped, but we can still come out pretty well.

This story is not on the major newswires so retail does not know about it. Don't make the mistake of expecting a PPS explosion right away. It may come, but better to be a surprise than a dissapointment if it doesn't happen. Look at how many times in the past we have expected too much too fast.