At this point, it probably makes the most sense (much as I would like to believe in EZ's hope for a last minute deal)...

Chavez called in the military to oversee gold extraction (the so-called Caura Plan). The "new mining law" amounts to nothing more than the requirement that 50%...what is it now...40%...of gold extracted is sold to the central bank. I believe an office has been opened in the mining district to facilitate gold transactions so that "the bank" gets thier pound of flesh. The military stands guard over the miners to ensure that corruption is exacted in the proper way. Perhaps Rusoro is involved with "larger scale" mining with associated corruption. Any arbitration award that may or not be payable years down the road is not a concern. Even if an award were paid...this would be a liability of the Venezuelan people. The corrupt politicians (with Chavez at the top of the sh!tpile) would have already received their ill-gotten gains and would likely be long gone as well.

Money and power. That's what makes the world go around...at least for the people in power.

On the brighter side....gold stocks were on FIRE today :o)