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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15575">venezuelanalysis.com</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Venezuelan Gold Reserves: Caracas Protests ‘Astonishing’ Ruling in Favor of US-backed Guaidó</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">By Ricardo Vaz - July 30, 2022<br></div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><p>Caracas, July 30, 2022 (<a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/">venezuelanalysis.com</a>)
– Venezuelan authorities have blasted the latest court ruling in the
struggle for control over 31 tonnes of gold stored in the Bank of
England (BoE).</p>
<p>On Friday, the High Court of England and Wales decided in favor of
opposition politician Juan Guaidó and dismissed a new effort by the
Venezuelan Central Bank (BCV) to regain control over the reserves worth
an estimated US $1.7 billion.</p>
<p>Caracas had brought to court the Venezuelan Supreme Court decrees
stating that the parallel BCV board appointed by the US-backed
opposition was illegal. However, judge Sara Cockerill decreed that the
British Court could not recognize the rulings made by Venezuela’s
highest judicial instance.</p>
<p>Since late 2018, the Bank of England has refused BCV requests to <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14139">repatriate</a> the gold reserves. In January 2019, Guaidó proclaimed himself “<a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14244">interim president</a>” and garnered immediate support from Washington.</p>
<p>The Trump administration proceeded to seize Venezuelan assets in the
US and place them under opposition control and pressured allies,
including London, to do likewise. Caracas found itself embroiled in
legal battles for a number of state assets held abroad, among them the
gold deposited in the BoE vaults.</p>
<p>The proceedings have gone through several British courts, with
rulings favoring one side or the other as well as a number of appeals.
Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the Nicolás Maduro government attempted to
sell the reserves via an agreement with the United Nations in order to
bolster the country’s healthcare system, but the effort was <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14929">rebuffed</a>.</p>
<p>The Maduro administration secured a <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15014">favorable judgment</a>
in 2020 when the English Court of Appeal called on the Boris Johnson
government to “clarify” its recognition of Guaidó. Nevertheless, the
decision was later <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15415">overturned</a> by the UK Supreme Court.</p>
<p>British judges have repeatedly fallen back on the “one voice” doctrine that binds the judiciary to No. 10’s position. Cockerill <a href="https://www.law.com/international-edition/2022/07/29/uk-high-court-again-favors-venezuelan-opposition-in-2b-gold-case/">reiterated</a> on Friday that the doctrine is “the backdrop to this issue.”</p>
<p>The most recent legal argument from the BCV centered on the
sovereignty of the country’s highest judicial institution. Though
Justice Cockerill refused to uphold the illegality of the Guaidó-named
board, she claimed that the opposition’s attack on the Venezuelan
Supreme Court’s alleged lack of impartiality failed to meet “the hurdle
of cogent evidence.”</p>
<p>Friday’s judgment did not grant the hardline opposition control over
the reserves, with proceedings due to resume in October in the UK’s
Commercial Court.</p>
<p>The BCV legal representation called the ruling “unfortunate” as
courts remain tied to the “recognition as a head of state a person with
no effective control or power over any part of that state.”</p>
<p>“This was an unprecedented case,” senior counsel Sarosh Zaiwalla
commented. “Another country’s highest court, interpreting its own
constitution, held Mr. Guaidó’s actions to be illegal.”</p>
<p>For its part, the Venezuelan Central Bank issued a <a href="https://twitter.com/BCV_ORG_VE/status/1553076838561349633">statement</a> rejecting the “astonishing dictum” by the British High Court.</p>
<p>“This ruling violates international law as well as Venezuela’s legal
and constitutional order in order to justify a criminal framework that
allows for the unlawful seizure of the country’s international
reserves,” the text read.</p>
<p>The Venezuelan government likewise reacted on Friday afternoon, with
Vice President Delcy Rodríguez criticizing the UK court system for
“sticking to the anachronistic ‘one voice’ doctrine.”</p>
<p>“I call on the British government to rectify its stance and go back
to following international law and the United Nations Charter,” she said
in a telephone interview on state broadcaster VTV. Rodríguez, who also
serves as finance minister, stated that the BCV will exhaust the appeals
process and take the case to international instances if needed.</p>
<p>In contrast, Washington-backed Guaidó welcomed the court decision,
calling it “another step to protect Venezuela’s international gold
reserves.”</p>
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