Two weeks after the severe earthquakes in Venezuela, which officially left 3,811 dead and more than 16,740 injured, interim President Delcy Rodríguez has demanded the release of blocked overseas assets. At a press conference, she asked the International Monetary Fund to free frozen financial resources. The money should go to affected families and the most heavily destroyed regions.
She also sent a letter to Britain’s King Charles III, demanding the release of around 31 tons of Venezuelan gold stored at the Bank of England. “This gold belongs to our people, and this gold is meant to serve them,” Rodríguez said. The Bank of England has previously refused to release the reserves. In 2020, the gold was worth around 1.7 billion euros, but due to rising gold prices, it is likely worth even more now.
The frozen gold has been the subject of a long-running legal dispute in British courts. The regime of former President Nicolás Maduro repeatedly tried to bring the reserves to Venezuela but failed legally. The opposition also prevented this, fearing the authoritarian leadership could steal the gold or use it to finance its repressive governance.
The United States eased sanctions in the oil sector after Maduro’s arrest and authorized transactions related to earthquake relief for four months. The two earthquakes, magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, struck Venezuela on June 24, followed by more than a thousand aftershocks. The chances of finding survivors two weeks after the disaster are minimal.
Source: www.zeit.de
