Venezuela: UK court blocks Maduro’s attempt to access $ 1 billion in gold

Venezuela’s central bank, which is still controlled by the Maduro government, sued the Bank of England, seeking access to € 930 million ($ 1 billion) in gold reserves that it said would help the country deal with the pandemic. of coronavirus. Venezuela intended to liquidate the gold to buy health care supplies and food through the United Nations Development Program, according to court documents.

But the British government, along with the United States government and dozens more around the world, recognizes Guaidó, rather than Maduro, as the legitimate leader of Venezuela. Venezuela’s political turmoil originates in 2018, when Maduro secured another six-year term in the presidential election, widely seen as a sham.

“It is a victory for the Venezuelan people and the rule of law and demonstrates the importance of the separation of powers,” the envoy, Vanessa Neuman, told CNN. “Gold is where it has always been, in the [Bank of England]. It is Maduro who tried to eliminate it and we have protected it for the people. “

Venezuela’s central bank said it would appeal the ruling.

“The [central bank] He will immediately appeal the absurd and unusual decision of an English court seeking to deprive the Venezuelan people of the gold that is so urgently needed to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, “he said in a tweet Thursday.

Maduro’s representatives in court called the ruling “unsatisfactory.”

“It is very rare that a case of international legal importance is decided only with reference to legal issues without taking into account the facts on the ground,” lawyer Sarosh Zaiwalla said in a statement.

The Bank of England previously told CNN that it “does not comment on individual customer relationships.”

The bank has around 400,000 gold bars in its vaults, worth more than £ 200 billion ($ 244.6 billion), according to its website. That makes it the second largest gold holder in the world after the New York Federal Reserve.