Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez has demanded the return of the country's gold reserves held at the Bank of England, which have been frozen for over six years.
Agence France-Presse quoted Rodriguez as saying during a meeting of the Venezuelan cabinet on Wednesday: "Enough excuses, this gold belongs to Venezuelans, not to the Bank of England." She added: "What we have witnessed in recent years is a farce aimed at illegally seizing these resources... This gold is part of the central bank's reserves." Rodriguez also instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Attorney General's office to take measures through appropriate channels to ensure the gold's return to Venezuela.
Value of Reserves and Historical Disputes
Venezuela holds gold bars at the British central bank valued at approximately 1.9 billion dollars in 2023, but has been unable to withdraw them due to London's refusal to recognize the re-election of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in 2018. Relations deteriorated in 2019 when then-opposition leader Juan Guaido asked the Bank of England not to hand over Venezuelan gold to the Maduro government.
Diplomatic Thaw and Support for Disaster Victims
Last September, London and Caracas began a diplomatic rapprochement and announced the appointment of ambassadors, after their missions had been managed by chargés d'affaires. Caracas's demand comes following an agreement reached last August between the interim Venezuelan government and part of the opposition during talks on the country's democratic transition. Both sides agreed to work towards recovering the gold to help support victims of the two earthquakes that occurred on June 24, as well as nearly nine months after Maduro was overthrown in a US military operation.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
Comments (0)