Independent Diamond Miners Operating in Venezuela

Independent diamond miners, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, are operating unregulated in Venezuela, according to an article published Sunday in the San Francisco Chronicle.

The miners are operating without mining permits, while violating environmental laws, selling diamonds to smugglers and not paying taxes. They are taking advantage of the government’s apparent failure to regulate the country’s diamond industry.

The article cited concern expressed by industry watchdogs that Venezuela’s noncompliance with Kimberley Process will encourage politically unstable African nations to default as well.

"You hear people from governments saying if Venezuela's not going to crack down on this, then why should we crack down on ourselves," said Ian Smillie, research coordinator for Partnership Africa Canada, a nongovernmental organization based in Ottawa.

The lack of regulation has forced diamond producers and buyers in Venezuela to ship the diamonds through Brazil to Guyana, where they can easily obtain certificates.

Although, as the Chronicle reports, Venezuela has not issued a single export certificate to its diamond producers in about two years, the South American nation in June reaffirmed its commitment to KP standards and is still a full-fledged member of the Process.

At the recent Amsterdam Presidents Meeting in June, World Diamond Council President Eli Izhakoff noted that, after months of ignoring repeated requests from the Kimberley Process, Venezuela responded after being warned that it faced expulsion from the scheme.