Venezuela renews push to recover billion in gold held at Bank of England after deadly earthquakes
Venezuela's Jorge Rodriguez says the government will focus on recovering $4 billion in gold held at the Bank of England, as inflation nears 20% after June earthquakes killed more than 6,000. The BoE has withheld the gold since it stopped recognizing Maduro's government.
Jorge Rodriguez, president of Venezuela's National Assembly, said this week the government and lawmakers have agreed to concentrate on recovering the country's international assets held at the Bank of England, an estimated $4 billion in gold, alongside rebuilding homes, hospitals, electricity access and clearing rubble. The push comes as Venezuela works through recovery from twin earthquakes at the end of June that killed more than 6,000 people, and as monthly inflation has surged to near 20%. The Bank of England has withheld roughly 31 metric tons of Venezuelan gold for years, a dispute rooted in a UK court ruling that tied access to the reserves to whichever government London recognizes as legitimate rather than who actually controls Venezuela's central bank. The gold remains locked up even after the US captured Maduro in January and flew him to New York to face narco-terrorism charges, and after acting President Delcy Rodriguez appealed directly to King Charles for its release. The standoff shows that regime change alone does not automatically unlock a country's frozen assets abroad. Access still runs through a separate, slower diplomatic recognition process that can lag well behind events on the ground.