Yes I do think that the timing has more to do with the local miners and their demonstrations than Vannessa. For a start the Vannessa issue can still be delayed for years and in any event it has become a matter of money not mining. The argument that denying KRY now in some way diminishes the damages simply won't fly in front of an international tribunal who would see right through such a transparent argument and in fact makes the Venezuelan case much weaker.

Taken to the obvious conclusion it would show the government are prepared to break any contract at any time in order to meet their own ends. It would clearly duplicate what they have already been accused off. The Ven lawyers would know that even if the government doesn't and they would advise accordingly.

However the small miners have obviously been planning a popular revolt for some time. You don't get 4,000 demonstrators blocking roads and creating chaos without some planning and without a lot of people knowing about it. The current government plan has been to turn the international companies into the villians (mobs need somebody to blame) by these stories of mistreating workers, hiding gold from the government, failure to honor contracts and payments to small miners etc. All these stories suddenly surfaced last week and there was a big show made of MIBAM and its minister rushing about "solving" these problems for the miners. Chavez needs popular support so he wants to deflect the blame from his inefficient ministries and be seen to be attacking the "problem", the multinationals.

Despite the popular delusion that Chavez wants to give LC and Brisas to "the Russians" it is telling that Rusoro also was included in the companies that had committed some "sin" against the miners.