Mexico, Cuba prepare for Pope

The central Mexican state of Guanajuato prepared to welcome Pope Benedict XVI as Cuban authorities spruced up streets for the second leg of the pope's first visit to Spanish-speaking Latin America.

The image of the Pope, who will shortly turn 85, lined the main streets of the Mexican cities of Leon, Guanajuato and Silao, in the highly catholic and conservative Guanjuato state, where Benedict XVI will stay until Monday.

"We hope there will be a massive turnout. We can't exactly calculate but there's an estimate of around 700,000 visitors," said state governor Juan Manuel Oliva.
Street sellers, with stalls loaded with pencils, t-shirts and plates bearing the pope's image, waited for crowds to arrive and sales to pick up.

"I've sold very little," complained Maria Guerrero at a stall near the Metropolitan park, now a vast camp site in the city of Leon. Barely 100 people had so far marked spots to pitch their tents.

"It's not like John Paul II when everything was sold out," said Eduardo Mena.
The street seller recalled travelling to Mexico City in 1979 to see the former pope on the first of his five visits to Mexico. "That one was a great pope," he said.