UK court rules against Maduro’s claims to gold reserves

London, Jul 29 (EFE).- The British High Court on Friday ruled against Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro’s claims to nearly $2 billion of gold stashed at the Bank of England in a victory for opposition leader Juan Guaidó.

Justice Sara Cockerill of the High Court’s commercial chamber dismissed a recent ruling by Venezuela’s supreme court (TSJ) to stymie Guaidó’s bid to access the gold via a parallel central bank (BCV) board appointed by the self-declared interim president of the South American nation.

The London court did not grant Guaidó access to the gold reserves — an issue that must be handled in a separate case — although it recognized the opposition leader as the rightful interim president, a position held by the United Kingdom and several other Western nations.

The Maduro-appointed BCV board signaled to Efe its intention to appeal the ruling. Its legal team must file such a petition by the end of August.

A separate case to resolve other disputes such as access to the gold is due to be heard in September or October.

The dispute over Venezuela’s UK gold stash goes back to May 14, 2020, when the Maduro-aligned president of the BCV, Calixto Ortega, accused the Bank of England of contractual breaches when it declined to transfer nearly $1 million of reserves that Caracas said would be used to tackle Covid-19 in the country. EFE

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