Maduro’s Shining Moment in UK Appeals Court

Juan Guaidó (pictured above) emerged with a disadvantage following UK Appeals Court decision to delegitimize his position as Venezuela’s recognized leader. Source: Commons

The continuing battle in Venezuela over the possession of one billion dollars’ worth of gold bars and the true leadership of the country took a shocking turn on October 5—the United Kingdom Appeals Court overturned a ruling that had stated Juan Guaidó was the recognized leader of Venezuela. This appeals case was lodged by the Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV), a strong supporter of Maduro, after the High Court ruling in July.

This fight to gain control of the vast amount of wealth began in May of 2020, when BCV sued the Bank of England (BoE) to regain control of the gold. However, the British government officially recognized Juan Guiadó as the true president of Venezuela at the beginning of 2019, along with many other Western countries after the dubious results of the 2018 election, and therefore the BoE had withheld the resources. Lawyers representing BCV have attacked the BoE’s position, saying that Juan Guaidó is simply “a virtual prime minister with no real power inside the country.” 

While the High Court upheld the BoE’s choice by stating Guaidó was the constitutional president of Venezuela, the Court of Appeals overturned this decision due to the lack of clarification in the idea of what the High Court believed the presidential leadership was. The Appeals Court presented two options to the British government: either assign all presidential power to Guaidó, or recognize that both Guaidó and Maduro hold certain presidential powers.

The repossession of this gold is a critical move for the Venezuelan government, as Venezuela has experienced economic turmoil since “Viernes Negro,”, when the Venezuelan bolívar depreciated to less than half of its original value on February 18, 1983. Since then, the Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro administrations have only worsened the economic and political situation, with great inflation, police violence, disregard for free speech and expression, and shortages of goods in marketplaces and hospitals. Venezuela’s economy and quality of life are at an all-time low as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, and the stored gold in the BoE could be a lifeline for the country.

The BCV promises that the gold reserves will be channeled into the United Nations Development Program in order to ensure humanitarian aid and equipment for Venezuelans to combat the pandemic. However, due to the political instability occurring in the country, there remains uncertainty over the effective use of these funds, at least until the Higher Court cements a more definitive opinion over who is the true leader of Venezuela.