For the garimpeiros, finding diamonds worth several hundred dollars each does mean wealth. Goods are five times more expensive than in Luanda. And, although the land is lush and green, only a few scattered plots of beans and cassava can be seen from the helicopter. Women tend these while the men feverishly dig for diamonds. Whether Unita or the government controls a diamond area is irrelevant to the welfare of locals and garimpeiros.
Traders have a different view.
Army, police, commandos, they all do it. Yet, because of Angola's long-running civil war, which began before independence in 1975, the diamond industry has only skimmed the surface. There are diamonds all over Angola, whole provinces have not yet been prospected. Along the rivers of Bie and Kuando-Kubango provinces, people are prospecting, albeit on a small scale. As the economic crisis caused by the war pushes more Angolans into destitution, prospecting becomes more attractive.