It is just as likely that the minions in middle who deal directly with the companies have no idea as to what's going on and why. they just get their orders from the top as to what they can and can't do or say and they simply comply.

Privately they don't see any technical problems or issues at their level but they just aren't told the political reasoning for holding things up. This could explain the long period of conflicting signals that the management of KRY and GRZ have been getting re time lines etc.

There are really few other explanations for this situation. The local population are not only supportive of mining LC and Brisas, they have actually petitioned the authorities to facilitate the projects to provide them with income and employment. The local people are being disadvantaged without any reason or explanation.

The country's economy isn't doing all that great, despite good oil prices. I read that Hugo is currently spending the equivalent of $97 from every barrel of oil produced to support his social programs; that doesn't leave much change for maintenance and expansion and nothing to start new projects like gold mines that have to be built from scratch.

While the alarmists talk of Hugo nationalising LC and Brisas, in practical terms there is nothing to nationalise. There are no mines, equipment or new assets. Just low grade gold in the ground that needs at least a billion dollars of investment before it can be extracted and even then the pay back period won't come for many years. So grabbing the projects under some pretext won't gain him a single penny and will only make it even harder for him to get foreign capital or loans for any project in Venezuela.

So the only possible logical explanation (if there is any logic there at all) is that Hugo is trying to make some political capital by stopping the development. So now we are back so something akin to the Vale scenerio I postulated on earlier.

Just speculation, but there has to be some reasoning behind what is happening, even if that reasoning is flawed.