In an article posted on the agoracom kry part of the forum regarding Hecla, the article states:

http://www.agoracom.com/ir/Crystalle...

"According to a report carried in today's edition of the local newspaper, El Correo del Caroni, Hecla labor representative Edwin Lopez has filed complaint over what he claims to have been a series of human rights violations allegedly committed by Hecla in recent months. "We are denouncing this company because of preoblems related to violations of human rights ... also bad pay, health & safety issues at the mine and now that it has been taken over by CVG Minerven, our lives are put at risk."

Lopez says Hecla workers want central government to take over the company (Hecla) as rapidly as possible to avoid repeated situations to the detriment of local workers. "The directors are trying to get a meeting with the vice president of the Republic to allege that we as a small group of workers are not authorized to enter the property ... this is not correct!" Lopez adds that Hecla has not managed rhe gold mine properly ... workers have not received adequate pay for their work ... "we as wrokers know how much gold is being produced ... millions of tonnes (of ore) has been mined and they have never recognized any production bonus ... and for that reason we are saying that there is exploitation of, and theft against the nation."

Questions:

Why is Hecla trying to meet with the VP to help them with their labor problems?

Ortega is married to the VP. You would assume that on the contrary the VP would be working against Hecla preventing them from any further mining thus supporting his wife. The way the article reads it implies that the VP is an ally of Hecla or willing to meet with Hecla. All this time I thought the VP and Ortega would be allied.

This seems very signinficant because it would signal a total shift in dynamic in support of mining!