Venezuela opposition leader urges UK not to give gold to Maduro
Government has been trying to repatriate gold from the Bank of England since 2018, fearing it could be caught up in sanctions
Caracas — Venezuelan opposition leader and self-declared president Juan Guaido has asked British authorities to stop President Nicolas Maduro gaining access to gold reserves held in the Bank of England, according to letters released by his party on Sunday. Maduro has been disavowed by a broad group of Western nations and Latin American neighbours that accuse him of undermining democracy, and a growing number of countries have recognised Guaido as legitimate interim leader of the troubled Opec nation. Since 2018 Maduro’s government has been trying to repatriate gold from the Bank of England, fearing it could be caught up in international sanctions against his administration. Those holdings jumped to around $1.3bn after Venezuela’s central bank closed out a gold swap deal with Deutsche Bank, sources told Reuters last week. In letters to British Prime Minister Theresa May and Bank of England governor Mark Carney, Guaido said Maduro government officials are seeking to sell the gold and ...
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