Venezuela wants its gold back. And now with Maduro having been removed and Caracas being essentially a puppet of Washington influence and interests, it has a much better chance at this than ever before.
Venezuela’s government and opposition are teaming up to wrest back $4 billion in gold bullion currently locked in the Bank of England’s vaults, according to a Friday report by the Financial Times.
Bank Of England/ShutterstockA freshly issued joint statement confirmed they are actively working "to recover Venezuela's international reserve assets held in the Bank of England."
If successfully repatriated, the funds are slated in part for post-earthquake reconstruction efforts and to soften the blow of years of US sanctions, which still haven't actually been fully lifted.
The funds have been the subject of a lengthy court battle, after since 2018 the United Kingdom has blocked access by denying recognition to Venezuela’s revolutionary socialist government.
Despite Maduro having been ousted by a US military operation last January during a shock overnight military raid on the capital, the Bank of England is demanding absolute legal clarity on who actually holds the reins of power in Venezuela before agreeing to open up the vaults.
An unnamed opposition figure revealed to the FT that both factions are hashing out a "transparency mechanism" designed to ensure the billion-dollar windfall isn't quietly siphoned off.
President Delcy Rodriguez, who was Maduro's former VP, has made personal request to King
