Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro is fighting in the British courts to get his hands on £800 million currently held by the Bank of England
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro was celebrating on Monday after the Court of Appeals in London ruled in his favour over a contested £800 million of gold bullion held in the vaults of the Bank of England.
The money has been blocked since the British government officially recognised Juan Guaido, head of the National Assembly and Mr Maduro’s opposition, as the legitimate ruler of Venezuela in February 2019.
Amid Venezuela’s collapsing economy, Mr Maduro attempted to withdraw the gold, but was blocked by the Bank of England.
In July the High Court ruled that the British government has "unequivocally recognised" Mr Guaido as interim president of Venezuela, and that he therefore has the authority to give instructions in relation to the gold.
Mr Justice Teare found that a statement by then foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt in February 2019 was "a formal statement that Her Majesty’s Government now recognised Mr Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela pending fresh elections".
Venezuela's government is fighting to access a billion dollars ($800 million) in gold bullion held by the Bank of England (pictured)
On Monday that decision was questioned by the Court of Appeals, which found that Mr Hunt’s statement was "ambiguous, or at any rate less than unequivocal".
In his judgment, Lord Justice Males — sitting with Lords Justice Lewison and Phillips — said Mr Hunt’s statement "might have said in terms that Her Majesty’s Government did not recognise Mr Maduro in any capacity, but it did not".
The judge said the case should be reconsidered by the High Court to determine whether the Government "recognises Mr Guaido as president of Venezuela for all purposes and therefore does not recognise Mr Maduro as president for any purpose".
Mr Maduro’s lawyers in London have argued that the Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV), which owns the gold, should be allowed — on his order — to sell the gold.
They have reached a deal with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to transfer the £800 million to them, rather than to Caracas, so that the funds can be used to combat coronavirus in the country.
They say the money will be used to buy "healthcare equipment, medicines and basic foodstuffs".
But the Bank of England says it is "caught in the middle" of rival claims to the gold, from the BCV board appointed by Mr Maduro and an "ad hoc" board appointed by Mr Guaido.
Neither leader has responded to the Court’s decision, and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has not respond to The Telegraph’s request for comment.
The scale of Venezuela’s coronavirus pandemic is difficult to judge, given its many years of refusing to provide health data and falsifying statistics.
The John Hopkins University’s coronavirus resource centre says there have been 78,434 confirmed cases, and 653 deaths. Among those to test positive was Diosdado Cabello, president of Venezuela’s Maduro-backed rival parliament, the Constituent National Assembly.
The ruling Socialist Party says Venezuela has handled the outbreak better than other Latin American nations, and that most of the country’s cases come from Venezuelan migrants returning from Colombia and Brazil.
Juan Guaido, Venezuela's interim president, is pictured on September 10 thanking health workers
Venezuela’s wretched situation is likely to reach another crescendo in December, when elections are held for the legislative assembly.
At least 27 opposition parties, urged on by Mr Guaido, have now announced they would not participate in the elections, saying they would be rigged by Mr Maduro’s party.
Mr Guaido has called on the military to also refuse to recognise the December 6 vote.
Some prominent opposition figures, however, have now broken with Mr Guaido and spoken out in favour of participation in the polls, including Henrique Capriles, a widely-respected figure who has twice run for the presidency.
Another prominent opposition lawmaker, Stalin Gonzales, also publicly split from the pro-boycott group last month, saying that mobilising opposition at the ballot box would be more effective than a boycott.
Their divisions mean that Mr Maduro could regain control of the National Assembly, which Mr Guaido currently leads — dealing his failing campaign to oust the entrenched Mr Maduro a potentially fatal blow.
Elliott Abrams, Donald Trump’s envoy to Venezuela, insisted in August the United States “will not recognise this fraudulent election” and said it was in discussions with the roughly 60 countries that have backed Mr Guaido and they would stick with him.
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