Letters to an Official

Dear president of the UN Security Council

As of late 2008, the country of Venezuela had annexed out of the Kimberley Process. This is Venezuela’s own decision to leave, their reason is that they are currently busy trying to develop a country plan. The Kimberly Process plays a huge role in the diamond trade industry. They watch over the trade to make sure no conflict (blood) diamonds are traded between countries. Venezuela has recently had a lot of problems managing their diamonds. Even with the Kimberley Process watching over, many diamonds have been traded illegally. There have been many reports on the illegal mining of diamonds. One example can be found at the Canaima National Park. A man by the name of Rueben Gonzalez would take his team into the national park and mine without a permit. Once they were done for the day the diamonds they would mine were then sold to smugglers, unaware that they could be potentially funding a civil war just like what happened in Sierra Leone. If Venezuela would rejoin the Kimberley Process and have stricter laws which punishment plays a role then we wouldn’t have to worry. But this is not the case. If we help out Venezuela and help them with something’s maybe they would have time for the organization. I urge you to try and convince Venezuela to rejoin the Kimberley Process. You can help by pressuring the Venezuelan government and try to change their mind. This would really help the mismanagement of diamonds and could stop a future civil war.

Most Sincerely,

Alejandro Bustamante-Martinez