I still feel that at least part of the reason why everyone has been stalled, is that it would have been a political disaster for Chavez if he had started handing out permits to foriegn 'internationals', while his own artisan miners, very poor citizens that had been promised plots to mine years ago, were still struggling just to survive. The problems of devastating illegal mining would get much worse, and there WOULD be protests in the streets.

Those very artisan are now recieving their own legal plots to mine. When enough have recieved THEIR permits, KRY will get theirs... :) IMHO