MEXICAN CONZUELO LOPEZ COOKS TORRILLAS, 2000-06-30 (photo)

Mexican Consuelo Lopez warms corn tortillas over a wood fire in her small cement house in the Mezquital valley in Hidalgo state, two hours north of the capital, June 27. Lopez, who supports her family scraping the cactus-like maguey plant to make a foamy fermented alcohol known as pulque, says the PRI provided her with her voting credential and has given her yearly aid of $600 to pay school expenses for two of her children. Mexico's impoverished, rural areas are considered key areas of support for the country's long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which is seen tied with the opposition in Sunday's presidential election. JC/JP