To launch the activities of the National Observatory of Unilateral Coercive Measures, a virtual forum themed «Venezuela’s gold in England and the fight against the blockade» was held on Tuesday with the participation of the President of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), Calixto Ortega; the Solicitor General, Reinaldo Muñoz; the Vice-minister for Anti-Blockade Policies, William Castillo; and British journalist John Mcevoy.
In his statement, the BCV President provided a chronological account of the seizure of the Venezuelan gold promoted by former deputy Juan Guaidó in connivance with the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom, and explained that in May 2020, Venezuela filed a legal action against the Bank of England before the High Court of Justice Business and Property Courts of England & Wales after this financial institution refused to give Venezuela access to its gold.
Ortega recalled that in February 2019, then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Jeremy Hunt delivered political statements supporting Juan Guaidó. By March 2020, the Bank of England informed it decided to not let Venezuela move its gold deposited and held in the name of the BCV.
In April 2019, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) included the Central Bank of Venezuela in its list of Specially Designated Nationals. In December 2019, the BCV and Economy and Finance Ministry’s authorities traveled to London to demand that Venezuela be allowed to take the gold back to Venezuela, but the Bank of England refused the request.
Following this account, the BCV President said it has been an honor «to defend the interests of the Republic in this time of hardships for the homeland, » and highlighted that Venezuela is still working to recover its gold from England despite all the problems and difficulties.
Also, Solicitor General Reinaldo Muñoz underlined that «Guaidó’s and his representatives’ bullyboy unethical behavior has not taken hold in arbitration courts. They have not accepted the participation of this group of criminals. » Muñoz stressed that the actions undertaken by Guaidó were joined by the U.S. Government, which orchestrated the unilateral coercive measures that have been applied by its allies and lead to a financial persecution against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.