Venezuela: Gold Kept at Bank of England Needed to Fight COVID

The South American country and United Nations will seek to release the gold held in the British entity.

By Telesur
Global Research, May 28, 2020
teleSUR 27 May 2020
Region: ,
Theme: , ,

Venezuela’s Central Bank (BCV) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) agreed to use part of the gold deposited in the Bank of England to acquire food and medicine to face the Covid-19 pandemic, BCV President Calixto Ortega declared on Wednesday.

On May 28, Venezuelan authorities will appear in a London court to defend the mechanism established with the UNDP in March. As Ortega said, they will claim that the Bank of England refuses to follow the instructions to sell part of the gold held by the BCV in that institution.

“The Bank of England is not complying with the contract signed with the Central Bank and is risking its prestige,” he denounced. The British entity’s only task is the custody of the gold.

“Executive Vice President of Venezuela denounced the theft of Venezuelan gold by the Bank of England “this Thursday, there will be a hearing in the English courts, we hope that global financial laws will be respected.”

“We agreed with the UNDP that they would receive the funds directly,” Ortega explained. “It’s not my word; it’s not that I’m saying I’m going to buy food, medicine, and medical equipment. It is the United Nations that is saying it, and they are not going to lend themselves to anything shady, anything that is not neutral, independent,” he pointed.

According to a complaint made by Executive Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, since March the Bank of England has frozen 31 tons of gold belonging to Venezuela, due to the British government’s position of not recognizing President Nicolas Maduro’s administration. She added that opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido is behind this maneuver to strip Venezuela of its assets and thus try to oust Maduro from the presidency.

Amid Covid-19 pandemic, Venezuela will also file a complaint with the International Criminal Court, for extermination and crimes against humanity. The gold retained by the British bank would be used to fight the disease, at a time when the blockade imposed by the US on the South American nation is increasing in strength.

*

Note to readers: please click the share buttons above or below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.
Articles by: Telesur

Disclaimer: The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. The Centre of Research on Globalization grants permission to cross-post Global Research articles on community internet sites as long the source and copyright are acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original Global Research article. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: [email protected]

www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner.

For media inquiries: [email protected]