| Editor's Commentary: It should certainly come as no surprise that the British government, along with being utterly inept, is also completely dishonest. Unfortunately, it appears the same is true of the High Court. Today's ruling is a farce and completely outside the realm of justice - not that this would bother the UK government, but there was some reason to hope the High Court had some integrity. Alas ... This whole mess is being played out in the complete absence of justice. This is NOT Guáido's gold, and it isn't Maduro's gold. The gold belongs to the people of Venezuela and it should not be the business of any court or any other government to tell Venezuela how it can use its property. It is none of anyone else's business why Venezuela needs its assets returned to them - from what was alleged to be safe storage. Clearly, it was not. And it is most definitely NOT the right of other nations to decide what is the proper government of another sovereign nation - in this case, of course, Venezuela. It is enough to make one puke whenever the 'rule of law' crap is trotted out. THERE IS NO SUCH THING! The so-called rule of law is simply made up as needed and applied against anyone who doesn't bow sufficiently before the 'West'. - prh, ed. Venezuela gold: UK High Court rules against Nicolás Maduro
The UK High Court has ruled against Venezuela's government in a legal battle over access to $1bn (£820m) of gold stored in the Bank of England. It said the UK had "unequivocally recognised opposition leader Juan Guaidó as president", rather than President Nicolás Maduro. The ruling comes after the government launched legal action against the bank to try to force it to release the gold. It is a severe blow to Mr Maduro's cash-strapped administration. Lawyers for the Venezuelan Central Bank, which brought the case, said they would appeal against the judgement. The gold is being retained by the Bank of England (BoE) following British and US sanctions on Mr Maduro's government. The BoE said it was caught in the middle of two rival claims for the gold, one from the government of Mr Maduro and one from Mr Maduro's rival, Juan Guaidó, who declared himself acting president of Venezuela last year. Mr Maduro's government said it wanted the gold to fund its fight against the coronavirus pandemic. But Mr Guaidó asked the Bank of England not to hand the gold over to the Maduro government, arguing that it would be used for corrupt purposes. The Bank of England therefore asked the High Court to rule on whom the UK government recognises as Venezuelan president, Mr Maduro or Juan Guaidó. More than 50 countries recognised Mr Guaidó as the legitimate president, among them the UK. But President Maduro, who retained the support of China and Russia among others, argued that he was the constitutional president and would remain so. A lawyer for Venezuela's Central Bank had argued that while the UK government did not approve of the Maduro government, it still recognised it de facto. He pointed to the fact that the UK has an ambassador in Caracas and that the Maduro-appointed Venezuelan ambassador to London remains in her post in London as proof of the UK's recognition of the Maduro government. Another lawyer for Venezuela's Central Bank said Thursday's judgement entirely ignored "the reality of the situation on the ground" saying that Mr Maduro's government was "in complete control of Venezuela and its administrative institutions". The Bank of England is the second largest keeper of gold in the world, with approximately 400,000 gold bars - only the New York Federal Reserve has more. It has one of the largest gold vaults in the world and prides itself on never having had any gold stolen in its more than 320-year history [but apparently doesn't balk at stealing it - prh, ed]. Central banks of a number of nations use it to store their national gold reserves and Venezuela is one of them. Venezuela's foreign currency reserves have been dwindling. The Maduro government turned to selling off some of the gold reserves kept at the central bank in Venezuela to its allies in Turkey, Russia and the United Arab Emirates. It badly needs hard currency and sees the gold stored in the vaults of the Bank of England as the solution. It says it wants the funds to be transferred to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to administer the purchase of supplies like medical equipment to fight Covid-19. Source URL |
