The Government of Venezuela and the opposition are about to close an understanding to transfer the gold reserves of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), valued at about 4 billion dollars (around 3.5 billion euros), from the vaults of the Bank of England to the Federal Reserve of New York, according to information published this Friday by the "Financial Times".
If the operation is finally realized, the Executive led by Delcy Rodríguez would gain legal control over the bars deposited in the Bank of England, although without authorization for their sale. These reserves would be mainly used as collateral to request lines of international financing aimed at covering the needs of the Venezuelan state and supporting reconstruction efforts after the severe double earthquake recorded in June.
The understanding would put an end to a seven-year litigation that began in 2019, when the United States, the United Kingdom, and other allied countries, including Spain, recognized Juan Guaidó —then president of the National Assembly— as the legitimate leader of Venezuela. Since that moment, Nicolás Maduro's Government lost effective control over the reserves, while the opposition initiated a legal battle in British courts to access the BCV's assets, a dispute that even reached the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
"The gold will go to the United States, but Delcy will not have direct access to it (...) It will be supervised and restricted," a source from the opposition stated as reported by the media.
At the same time, a representative of the Bank of England has indicated that "they are not in a position to act according to the instructions until a British court issues a new order clarifying who has legal authority over the account".
"This requires the parties involved in the case to go to the British courts to resolve the dispute," he stated in remarks reported by the "Financial Times".
In this context, Delcy Rodríguez held a meeting this Friday in Caracas with the chargé d'affaires of the United Kingdom, Colin Dick, with the intention of advancing towards the full normalization of diplomatic ties between both nations.
Neither of the two has wanted to comment on the details of this information, although both the Venezuelan Government and the British representation have emphasized their willingness to strengthen the bilateral relationship and to reopen embassies in their respective territories.
At the same time, the Government and the opposition of Venezuela have decided this Friday to extend the dialogue table for an additional week, with the aim of continuing to address issues related to freedom of expression and the right to information within the framework of the second cycle of conversations that both delegations are holding in Caracas.