Los Angeles - The moribund Los Angeles River seems to mark a line of indifference. Shops on Cesar Chavez Avenue emit odors of goats' heads, gizzards and tongues, but the scent of the upcoming US presidential election cannot be easily perceived.

East LA has its own rhythm, different from the rest of LA and, indeed, from the rest of the country.

An estimated 96 per cent of the residents have Latino roots. The daily Los Angeles Times once wrote that East LA is to Mexican- Americans what Harlem is to African Americans.

That mood is best emphasized by the ever-present images in statues, posters and stickers of Mexico's most popular religious and cultural image and patron saint, the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Customers at the full display at Zamora butcher shop would rather not talk about politics.

Francisco Carrillo, 45, a Mexican who comes from afar to get his "carnitas" (pork tacos), says he is traditionally a Democrat. But he has no plans to vote on November 4 for president because he is disappointed in both Democrat Barack Obama, 47, and Republican John McCain, 72.

"We are at the worst moment for the United States and they are promising things they cannot deliver. There is no money ... to deliver," he complains.

Frank Mendoza, slightly younger and more energetic, behind sunglasses and with his mouth full of chicken, says he's fed up with talk about the elections.

"I am not voting for president. Only the electoral votes count anyway, and everyone knows Obama is going to win (in California). I don't believe in either one of them," he says vehemently.

A visitor walks another while before hearing more upbeat news.

John Hernandez, a third-generation immigrant and a mechanical workshop manager, starts talking in Spanish and ends in English. He's a Democrat but is voting Republican.

"I don't trust Obama enough ... He has no experience. I don't like his values or the people that surround him. Things would have been different with Hillary (Clinton). She was a better candidate, but they picked a movie star," Hernandez says.

Further east, at the heart of the commercial area of sidewalk shops where hats, boots and moustaches abound, Obama gets more support.

Lucy Mendez, who sells face creams, notes that the current economic crisis "makes you want to cry." That is why she and her two oldest daughters are voting for the Democrat.

"Things are very bad. People no longer consume as they used to. There is no money to send remittances. Day labourers are going back to Mexico. Obama offers us a better future," Mendez says.

The bus station bench is full of pensioners who gather everyday to talk about lost jobs and the crisis.

"We like Obama because we want a change. With McCain the situation is going to stay the same or worse," says Antonio Lopez, a former carpenter who has lived in the United States since the 1950s.

Leonardo Oropeza, a slightly younger man, complains he was fired because of discrimination.

Despite the bad times, none is contemplating a return to Mexico.

"Here I have my family and my insurance. There I have nothing to fall back on," Lopez explains.

Standing up, protecting his wrinkled face under a white hat and sunglasses, Concepcion Rodriguez, 71, confesses he has great responsibility: he is the only one in a family of eight who is entitled to vote.

The former construction worker helped build the foundations of East LA when he was younger, and he does not want to hear a word about McCain.

"It makes me mad to hear him mentioned. In the last debate, McCain argued that Obama has no experience ... It is not an age competition. A young man is better," Rodriguez said.

At the corner of Chicago Street and Cesar Chavez Avenue, mariachis play outside the restaurant La Parrilla. Owner Anna Boror tends three tables at once but stops to explain how people don't like change - just like some of her workers were reluctant to make coffee and guacamole the way she liked it when she took over.

"That is how things are in politics too, people don't like changes. I think it is good to have change and to have something new come in," says the Guatemalan, a fan of the Democrats although she is not entitled to vote.

At the next table, two police officers fight over the comfortable armchair, but pause to admit they plan to vote Republican.

Lazaro Ramirez, a second-generation Mexican, stresses in perfect English and clear Spanish that members of street gangs do not vote.

"They do not care about anything. There is so much ignorance among young people that I do not know where we are going to be in 20 years. They have lost their culture, they do not know where they come from. They are unaware of their parents' sacrifices," he says.

Days slip by in this way in the busy neighbourhood, with Our Lady of Guadalupe overseeing all. (dpa)