The United Kingdom's High Court Thursday decided that opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido can access 31 tons of Venezuelan gold held in the Bank of England, which prevents President Nicolas Maduro's administration from using those resources to fight the pandemic.
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The ruling about this monetary reserve valued at over US $ 1 billion occurs after months of disputes between Venezuela and the Bank of England, which denied the constitutionally constituted government access to its own resources
On May 14, the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) sued the Bank of England to obtain and sell the Venezuelan gold bars.
The South American country intends to sell the resources to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and so gain food and medicine needed amid pandemic.
The Bank of England justified its attitude by claiming that they would first clarify who Venezuela's legitimate representative is and then debate the resources' release.
U.K. justice's decision opens the gates for Guaido to appropriate the resources held in that European country and other international banks.
"Every minute a person can die in Venezuela because of COVID-19. We need our resources to mitigate its impact on our people," Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez insisted.
The announcement comes days after President Donald Trump's former advisor John Bolton said in a memoir that Guaido is perceived as weak, against a strong and smart Maduro.