Economy: UK Foreign Secretary will intervene in Venezuela’s gold reserves issue

Madrid, 1 (European Press)

The UK Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, has been authorized to intervene in the upcoming hearing of the Anglo-Saxon High Court in the case of Venezuela’s gold reserves at the Bank of England, which will take place between 19 and 21 July.

The public will hear calls from the Venezuelan central bank, led by the regime of Nicolás Maduro, and a group representing interim president, Juan Guaido, for access to the gold reserves that Venezuela holds in London.

The case dates back to May 2020, when the Central Bank of Venezuela filed a lawsuit against the Bank of England for refusing to access its gold reserves. Then the English Foundation made it clear that it had recognized Juan Guaidó as the highest president of the Latin American country, which refused to respond to an institution that was under the control of Nicolas Maduro.

In July last year, a ruling by the English Supreme Court decided as a matter of priority that then-Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s declaration recognizing Juan Guaido as the “Provisional Constitutional President of Venezuela” was clear and binding on the Court. Under the principle of “one vote”.

However, in October the Court of Appeal dismissed and accepted the appeal of the Central Bank of Venezuela, ordering that the case be returned to the Supreme Court. The Court of Appeal concluded that in the absence of a clear indication from the UK government that Mr Guaidó was recognized not only as the “legitimate” head of Venezuela, but also as the “actual” head of state, the English court would have to make a detailed factual analysis.

Consequently, the Secretary of State was invited to intervene in the process, and permission was granted for the State Department’s legal representatives to present allegations on the case before the Supreme Court at the July session.

Reserves in “the city” are about 1,600 million euros. The exporting Venezuelan institute had intended to sell up to 1,000 million of these reserves to deliver humanitarian aid, resources and medicine to Venezuelan citizens in the context of the pandemic.

According to a statement issued by attorneys representing the Venezuelan institution that Europe Press was able to reach, the Guaidó Group “is challenging the authority of the Venezuelan Central Bank to negotiate with the foreign assets of the central institution.”

“After he (Guaidó) lost in the Court of Appeal, he seeks to change the meaning of the trial which decided that both President Nicolas Maduro and the self-proclaimed interim President Guaidó could be recognized by the UK government with different qualities,” he snapped the text.

Lawyers for the Venezuelan central bank have warned that the outcome of this case may affect the attractiveness of the “City of London” and the Bank of England as a safe depositor of foreign sovereign assets.

In January 2021, Guaidó ceased his duties as vice-president and president of the National Assembly after failing to appear in the 2020 elections. He claimed that his alleged power as interim president continued his previous role, which according to the lawyer of the Venezuelan Foundation gives you a “questionable” constitutional position to continue this litigation.