Sierra Leone and the Diamond Trade
“Diamonds are Forever” - DeBeers says. Unfortunately, Oppenheimer and
his cronies don’t feel the same way about human lives. In times past,
diamonds were
a rare commodity, but in 1870, huge diamond mines were discovered and
exploited in South Africa and the worth of diamonds decreased
dramatically. British
financiers realized that the value of these stones depended solely on
their scarcity and image. Financiers feared, and rightly so, that
diamonds would
soon be ranked semi-precious. For this reason, major diamond companies
decided to merge into a single entity, and in 1888, DeBeers
Consolidated Mines,
Ltd was created, and soon came to own 60% of the world’s diamond mines.
One may ask oneself why this is relevant, and how this came to be?
Basically,
DeBeers is run by a group of greedy, evil, capitalist scum.
In order to inflate the prices of diamonds (which were now becoming
less and less scarce as more mines were being discovered), the DeBeers
cartel
purchased 80% of diamonds for sale on the open market. This way, they
could not only control the so-called “scarcity” of diamonds, but also
inflate the
prices of diamonds. DeBeers also has more than $4 billion in diamonds
stockpiled in their offices.
Now, let us look at a mineral map of Africa to see where diamonds are
found outside of South Africa - northern Angola, Southwestern Congo, and
Sierra
Leone - all areas of conflict. Angola is probably the largest exporter,
with 11 percent of the world’s diamond reserves. Sierra Leone and
Liberia report
roughly the same amount of exports, but most exports out of Liberia are
smuggled out of neighbouring Sierra Leone. However, DeBeers
Consolidated Mines
Inc., headquartered in South Africa, maintains monopoly over all
diamond sales and encourages governments to see that all their country’s
diamonds are
distributed through DeBeers. DeBeers has been rumoured in the past to
have purchased diamonds from illegal mines in Sierra Leone, funding the
R.U.F.
(Revolutionary United Front), the terrorists responsible for the blood
and carnage which continues to be seen in Africa. However, while some
experts
disagree, DeBeers insists that it is impossible to tell where uncut
diamonds originate, but at the same time insists that they do not buy any
diamonds
originating from areas of conflict. How can both of these statements be
true?
DeBeers says that it has closed its offices in controversial areas of
Angola, Sierra Leone, and Congo. However, they must begetting diamonds
from illegal
sources. This is how it works: the Ivory Coast diamond industry shut
down in the 1980s, but Belgium recorded receiving 1.5 million carrats of
diamonds
imported from the Ivory Coast in the 1990s. These diamonds were most
likely smuggled from Angola and Sierra Leone. Countries have also
reported more
imports from Liberia and Sierra Leone than these two countries have
reported exporting. Yet, with all these extra diamonds, the prices have
still not
tumbled. Thank you, Oppenheimer. This is blatant funding of terrorist
violence in these countries. Not only that, but RUF leader Foday Sankoh
was also
appointed minister in charge of mineral resources. It seems as though
our buddies at DeBeers have had a little talk with some African
governments.
“Diamonds are Forever” - DeBeers says. Unfortunately, Oppenheimer and
his cronies don’t feel the same way about human lives. In times past,
diamonds were
a rare commodity, but in 1870, huge diamond mines were discovered and
exploited in South Africa and the worth of diamonds decreased
dramatically. British
financiers realized that the value of these stones depended solely on
their scarcity and image. Financiers feared, and rightly so, that
diamonds would
soon be ranked semi-precious. For this reason, major diamond companies
decided to merge into a single entity, and in 1888, DeBeers
Consolidated Mines,
Ltd was created, and soon came to own 60% of the world’s diamond mines.
One may ask oneself why this is relevant, and how this came to be?
Basically,
DeBeers is run by a group of greedy, evil, capitalist scum.
In order to inflate the prices of diamonds (which were now becoming
less and less scarce as more mines were being discovered), the DeBeers
cartel
purchased 80% of diamonds for sale on the open market. This way, they
could not only control the so-called “scarcity” of diamonds, but also
inflate the
prices of diamonds. DeBeers also has more than $4 billion in diamonds
stockpiled in their offices.
Now, let us look at a mineral map of Africa to see where diamonds are
found outside of South Africa - northern Angola, Southwestern Congo, and
Sierra
Leone - all areas of conflict. Angola is probably the largest exporter,
with 11 percent of the world’s diamond reserves. Sierra Leone and
Liberia report
roughly the same amount of exports, but most exports out of Liberia are
smuggled out of neighbouring Sierra Leone. However, DeBeers
Consolidated Mines
Inc., headquartered in South Africa, maintains monopoly over all
diamond sales and encourages governments to see that all their country’s
diamonds are
distributed through DeBeers. DeBeers has been rumoured in the past to
have purchased diamonds from illegal mines in Sierra Leone, funding the
R.U.F.
(Revolutionary United Front), the terrorists responsible for the blood
and carnage which continues to be seen in Africa. However, while some
experts
disagree, DeBeers insists that it is impossible to tell where uncut
diamonds originate, but at the same time insists that they do not buy any
diamonds
originating from areas of conflict. How can both of these statements be
true?
DeBeers says that it has closed its offices in controversial areas of
Angola, Sierra Leone, and Congo. However, they must begetting diamonds
from illegal
sources. This is how it works: the Ivory Coast diamond industry shut
down in the 1980s, but Belgium recorded receiving 1.5 million carrats of
diamonds
imported from the Ivory Coast in the 1990s. These diamonds were most
likely smuggled from Angola and Sierra Leone. Countries have also
reported more
imports from Liberia and Sierra Leone than these two countries have
reported exporting. Yet, with all these extra diamonds, the prices have
still not
tumbled. Thank you, Oppenheimer. This is blatant funding of terrorist
violence in these countries. Not only that, but RUF leader Foday Sankoh
was also
appointed minister in charge of mineral resources. It seems as though
our buddies at DeBeers have had a little talk with some African
governments.
