For years, pulquerias like La Risa flourished in Mexico, with more than 1, 000 in Mexico City and the surrounding farming regions.

BBC: Mexico��s ancient drink makes a comeback

"The governor engages in humor all the time, and he can certainly take a joke, " said Risa Heller, Paterson's communications director.

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My first battle with pulque was in the centre of Mexico City at a pulqueria called La Risa, whose saloon-style swinging doors have been open to pulque faithful since 1903.

BBC: Mexico��s ancient drink makes a comeback

Advocates and nonprofit leaders include National Organization for Women President Kim Gandy, and Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which is interested in health policy.

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With such a narrow victory, Maduro has little political capital to make some of the difficult choices some of those problems require, said Risa Grais-Targow, Latin America analyst for the Eurasia Group.

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