The U.K. has signaled over a billion dollars worth of Venezuelan gold could stay held in vaults at the Bank of England, despite the arrest of Nicolás Maduro and the appointment of interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, according to reports.
Addressing Parliament on Jan. 5, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper suggested that because Britain does not recognize the current administration, the bullion is unlikely to be released.
“It is important that we have the pressure in place to have a transition to a democracy which is also about the will of the Venezuelan people,” Cooper said.
“Obviously, there are independent decisions for the Bank of England to take, but our principles are about maintaining and pursuing stability and a transition to democracy, and that is what is guiding our approach,” she said in her statement.
The gold, which is part of Venezuela’s central bank reserves, has been frozen since 2020 amid competing claims over who has legal authority to access it.
“So the gold stays where it is,” Rhona O’Connell, head of market analysis for EMEA and Asia at StoneX, told Fox News Digital.
“This has implications for the gold that is frozen in the Bank of England, and which Maduro has been trying to get released.”
O’Connell claimed Venezuela had sold large quantities of gold between 2012 and 2016 as the country’s economic crisis deepened.
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“The last major tranche appears to have been 85 metric tons in the first half of 2016, with further small sales thereafter,” she said, adding that Venezuela last officially reported reserves to the International Monetary Fund in mid-2018.
“Figures picked up by the World Gold Council suggest net sales of 179t since 2022,” O’Connell said.
Maduro launched legal action against the Bank of England in 2020, prompting rival claims over who could represent Banco Central de Venezuela which owns the gold, but has been under U.S. sanctions since April 2019.
The UK High Court initially sided with the Bank of England, but the decision was later overturned by the Court of Appeal, with the UK Supreme Court ultimately ruling in favor of recognizing Juan Guaidó as president.
The Supreme Court documents have the value in 2020 at around $1.95bn. Given the price of gold has has increased since then, it could now likely be worth over $3 billion.
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Still, the gold has been frozen under London’s jurisdiction, consistent with the UK government’s recognition policy, per reports.
“This follows the One Voice doctrine, a UK ruling that means when a UK Government refuses to recognize another Head of State, the courts must do likewise,” O’Connell said,
Swiss authorities, meanwhile, have also frozen assets linked to Maduro and dozens of associates following his arrest by U.S. forces, though they have not disclosed the total value of those assets, according to Reuters.
Between those years, Venezuela exported about 113 metric tonnes of gold worth roughly $5.2 billion to Switzerland, according to Swiss customs data, Reuters reported.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Bank of England and the U.K. Foreign Office for comment.
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