Venezuela: Guaido Prevents the Use of Frozen Funds for Vaccines

The former lawmaker rejected a proposal of the legitimate government to allocate gold blocked in the United Kingdom to anti-COVID-19 vaccines.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza denounced Wednesday that former opposition deputy Juan Guaidó rejected a proposal by the legitimate government of the South American nation to allocate 120 million dollars, illegally withheld in the United Kingdom, to the purchase of anti-Covid-19 vaccines.

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In a message disseminated through the social network Twitter, Arreaza detailed that this maneuver constitutes "another proof of the cruelty of Guaidó and his gang", whom he labeled as "criminals."

Arreaza added that Guaidó's rejection of the proposal made by the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) has its starting point in the "illegal recognition of the United Kingdom" of his "fictitious and non-existent government."

The Venezuelan Chancellor added that the refusal, expressed by the opposition's lawyers, prevents "the Bank of England from releasing the blocked gold of the Venezuelan State" to participate in the Covax vaccination program against the coronavirus.

"CRIMINALS! Another proof of the cruelty of Guaidó and his gang. From the UK's illegal recognition of a fictitious and non-existent government, they prevent the Bank of England from releasing the blocked gold of the Venezuelan State to buy vaccines for #COVID-19."

Through a press release, the London-based law firm Zaiwalla and Co. confirmed the negative response given by Guaidó's legal team to the BCV's proposal.

"The funds should be used for the benefit of the people of Venezuela and the intransigence of Guaidó's representatives is critically hampering the country's attempts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic," stated a lawyer and partner at the law firm, Leigh Crestohl.

On Wednesday, Venezuela's executive vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, reported that the country counted 121,691 coronavirus infections and 1,122 deaths, as well as 113,982 people cured.

This recovery rate of more than 94 percent is the result of free treatments and other actions deployed by the Bolivarian State, not willing to yield to the pressures of the cruel blockade imposed by the U.S. government and its partners in the European Union.