The shameful political nature of the Bank of England’s refusal to release Venezuela’s gold deposits was made clear in court this week.
Lawyers for the Venezuelan Central Bank went to court to force the Bank of England to release funds to the United Nations Development Programme for the purchase of much-needed supplies of food and medicines.The UK Supreme Court released its judgement Thursday.
Despite clarifying that the UK government’s recognition of Juan Guaido as “interim president” did not mean he was running the Venezuelan government, the court agreed with the UK government in recognising Juan Guaido rather than the elected president Nicholas Maduro.
The Bank of England showed the political nature of their decision to break their contract with the Central Bank of Venezuela and now that position has been supported in the courts.
The judgement rests largely on a hasty decision by the UK in January 2019 to issue a statement from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office recognising the minor politician and self-described “interim president” Juan Guaido.
This decision – and the decision to refuse to give Venezuela back its gold by the Bank of England – are nothing to do with concerns about the Venezuelan people, and everything to do with supporting Trump’s illegal ‘regime change’ agenda in Venezuela.
Ken Livingstone, former Mayor of London, said “This decision on Venezuela’s gold is about slavishly following Trump’s illegal ‘regime change’ agenda and nothing else.
He added, “The decision not to let Venezuela use its gold resources to fight the COVID-19 pandemic lacks any sense of humanitarianism at this time of global crisis.”
Tony Burke, Unite the Union Assistant General Secretary and VSC Chair said, “The decision by the High Court on Venezuela’s gold is disgraceful. The decision is really about propping up Trump’s puppet Juan Guaido, the self proclaimed ‘president’ of the country. Guaido and Trump’s attempts to mount illegal regime change and oust Nicholas Maduro the legitimate and elected President of Venezuela have failed miserably.
He added, “These gold reserves are being used as a weapon and holding onto Venezuela’s reserves is another attempt to weaken the resolve of Venezuela – putting the lives of its people at risk. Their gold reserves should be used to fund the fight the Covid-19 pandemic and help the Venezuelan people.”
Francisco Dominguez, VSC Secretary, added “This decision is absolutely outrageous. It rules in favour of thoroughly fictional and rogue ‘interim government’ that has been explicitly set up by the Trump administration as part of a ‘regime change’ strategy, combined with the massive pillage of Venezuela’s assets. When the secretive FCO “Unit for the Reconstruction of Venezuela” is thrown into the picture, we can see the logic of the ongoing colonial pillage by British imperialism.
The sheer hypocrisy and unscrupulousness of this can be seen in the fact that a few days ago the UK government issued a statement stating that it ‘unequivocally recognised the government of President Maduro’.”
Susan Grey, VSC Vice-Chair said, “Since the UK Government recognised Juan Guaido, he has been implicated in the embezzlement of humanitarian aid, dealing with narco-terrorists, and the organisation of a military incursion into Venezuela. As an opposition National Assembly Member he has no control of the Venezuelan administration and is in no position to deliver health services, food distribution, or any other public services.
She added, “It’s nothing short of scandalous that this charlatan could now be given access to millions of dollars of Venezuelan money already earmarked for an urgent humanitarian programme.”
Venezuela Solidarity Campaign, July 2020 – Sign the petition at https://www.change.org/p/boris-johnson-mp-give-venezuela-back-its-gold