RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – “They are stealing Venezuela’s gold reserves, which belong to the Central Bank of Venezuela, they do not belong to the Government, they belong to an independent institution (…) More than US$2 billion in gold, the gold bars deposited in the Bank of England,” Maduro said in a government ceremony.
The British Supreme Court said Wednesday that it will rule “as soon as possible” on the case of access to Venezuela’s gold deposited in England, whose authority is claimed by both the administration of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the parallel team of opposition leader Juan Guaidó.
At the end of a three-day trial in London, the five judges of the UK’s highest judicial instance admitted that it will take “some time” to examine the complex arguments presented by the respective attorneys, who completed their closing arguments yesterday, July 21.
The High Court, which considered an appeal by Guaidó’s counsel against an earlier unfavorable ruling, must determine who the British executive branch actually considers to be the ruler for all purposes in Venezuela, whose board of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) would in principle hold power over the gold.
Should it finally determine, based on English case law – and not exclusively on what the government says – that Guaidó is the leader, it will have to clarify whether the British courts should consider his political appointments (among them the board) as valid, despite the fact that the appointments have been annulled by the Supreme Court of Caracas.
In this respect, Maduro assured that international sanctions, “persecution” and “theft of assets abroad” have damaged the country and stressed that these assets “are said to belong to a government that does not exist in Venezuela.”
“They fabricate a Narnia government, a fantasy government to steal our companies, money, accounts and to steal Venezuela’s gold,” said the president with no mention of Guaidó.
Finally, he considered that this is a case of “21st century piracy because that money belongs to Venezuela.” “That gold belongs to Venezuelans and, specifically, to the Central Bank of Venezuela, they represent the country’s reserves,” he said.