MEXICO BANS BOOZE SALES FOR ELECTION WEEKEND

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Damon Krytzer and five friends were planning to spend the
extended Fourth of July weekend in Ensenada, Mexico -- but not anymore.

They canceled their plans as soon as they learned no alcohol will be sold
anywhere in the country for this weekend because of Sunday's presidential
elections.

``We weren't going there just to get drunk, but it would have been nice to
sit around the pool and drink a margarita,'' said Krytzer, a 29-year-old
investment broker from San Diego.

Between midnight Friday and 10 a.m. Monday no alcohol may be sold in Mexico
under La Ley Seca, or the dry law, that is intended to ensure public order
and prevent rowdiness as people head to the polls.

No one knows how many Americans will cancel their weekend plans, but if they
head south of the border they will find popular nightspots such as Hussong's
Cantina and the Papas & Beer disco in Ensenada closed. The law is taken
seriously in Mexico and, if past elections are any gauge, it will be nearly
impossible to buy booze.

The election Sunday is widely considered to be the most competitive in
Mexico's history with polls showing a statistical dead heat between
46rancisco Labastida, the ruling party candidate, and Vicente Fox, the
candidate of the right-of-center opposition National Action Party.

But most Americans with plans to spend the weekend on Mexico's Baja
California peninsula weren't thinking too much of the election -- until
hearing about the alcohol ban.

Krytzer and his friends learned they could bring their own alcohol but they
wouldn't be able to leave their hotel room with it.

``It just seemed like such a hassle, so we made other plans,'' he said. They
managed to cancel their reservations at Ensenada's Coral Hotel and Marina
and find a room in Palm Springs.

The manager at the Coral, Norma Lopez, said she's received about 15
cancellations from people who learned of the alcohol ban, but that's not
many for a hotel with nearly 150 rooms.

``There will be plenty of other weekends,'' she said.

Ensenada has about 80 percent of its hotel rooms reserved for the weekend,
and it's possible there will be some cancellations as word spreads about La
Ley Seca, said Felizardo Palacios, the city's delegate to the Baja
California state tourism board.

But Palacios said the weekend provides Ensenada with an opportunity to
showcase itself as more of a family destination than the rowdy party spots
to the north like Rosarito and Tijuana.

``This election is extremely important to Mexico, so even if some people
don't come you have to balance that against the greater good for the
country,'' Palacios added.