UK JUDGE: MADURO HAS NO RIGHT TO VENEZUELA GOLD IN BANK OF ENGLAND

A British judge on Thursday refused to give Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro control of over $1 billion in gold sitting in a Bank of England vault, ruling that it is unlawful to give it to the socialist leader since Britain does not recognize him as president of the Latin American nation, Danica Kirka and Scott Smith wrote for the Associated Press (AP) late on July 2, 2020.

Maduro has demanded the gold to help his cash-starved nation fight the coronavirus pandemic. But the central bank for the United Kingdom, whose government recognizes Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as his country’s legitimate leader, had refused to hand it over to Maduro’s administration.

The ruling clarifies the question of who is Venezuela’s legitimate leader — at least in the eyes of one world power. “This is very much showing the isolation of the Maduro government,” said Christopher Sabatini, a senior research fellow for Latin America at the Chatham House think tank in London. However, Guaido has tried to oust Maduro since January 2019 but all his attempts have failed.

Guaidó has sought to preserve the gold stash at the Bank of England to keep it out of the hands of the Maduro government, which it contends is illegitimate and corrupt. His lawyers reiterated during a recent four-day hearing their stance that the National Assembly leader became Venezuela’s rightful leader under provisions of the country’s constitution.