Venezuelan authorities appeared in court in London last Thursday May 28 to demand that the Bank of England comply with instructions to sell part of the 31 tons of gold it holds on behalf of Venezuela.
Venezuelan Central Bank President Calixto Ortega reported on Wednesday that an agreement had been made with the United Nations Development Programme that it would receive the proceeds of the sale, and these would be used to buy food, medicine and health imports to tackle the Covid 19 pandemic and save many lives.
The Bank of England, which is ostensibly independent of the UK government, is arguably in breach of its contract with the Central Bank of Venezuela by refusing to comply with requests for repatriation of the gold on the pretext that the legitimacy of the Venezuelan government has been questioned. Such justification is demonstrably false, since the government of President Nicolas Maduro is recognised by the United Nations.
Delcy Rodriguez, Venezuelan Vice-President, stated that behind the Bank of England’s decision to freeze the Venezuelan gold lies a UK government manoeuvre to strip her country of its assets as part of an attempt at ‘regime change’.
Venezuela Solidarity Campaign fully supports Venezuela’s plan, negotiated with the UNDP, to use its own gold reserves to fund vital supplies of food, medicine and other medical supplies.