Next week, the British Supreme Court will decide on Venezuelan gold

Britain’s Supreme Court says it will decide next week on the dispute over Venezuela’s gold reserves held by the Bank of England.

This was indicated by lawyers representing the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the aforementioned case that reached the British courts last year, after the Bank of England refused to deliver the gold to the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), arguing that there was a similar request from the banking council appointed by Juan Guaido, According to a note from the Prensa Latina News Agency.

In the first place, the London Commercial Court ruled that Guaido had the authority to dispose of 30 tons of the precious metal worth more than $2 billion, because then-British Chancellor Jeremy Hunt recognized him as interim president in February 2019.

However, this ruling was overturned by the Court of Appeal, holding that recognition of Guaido as a “de jure” (by law) president does not rule out that Venezuela’s constitutional president, Nicolás Maduro, has been recognized by the United Kingdom as an act. .

The legal representatives of the British chancellor, Dominic Raab, must now clarify to the Supreme Court who the government recognizes as the head of state and government of Venezuela, because London has normal diplomatic relations with Caracas.

Lee Kristolle, an attorney at the London law firm Zaiwalla & Co. , which represents the Central Bank of Venezuela, notes that international observers in this case may be surprised at the possibility that the announcement of a unilateral political recognition by the authorities of the United Kingdom a sovereign state of its assets deposited in London.

The lawyers also noted that while the case was being settled in British courts, other European banks agreed to the Venezuelan government’s request and processed payments intended for the purchase of medical supplies to fight Covid-19, including vaccines.

The company claimed that international sanctions against Venezuela explicitly allow these payments to be made to protect lives, so delaying British justice has a real human cost.

Fountain: AVN