Court told UK recognises Maduro in $1bn gold battle

LONDON: Britain "unequivocally recognises" Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela´s president despite not approving of his government, a London court heard Monday in a case to determine the fate of $1 billion of gold.

The highly unusual court action sees the Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV) battling for the release of the gold bullion held in the Bank of England´s (BoE) vaults. The BCV is seeking an order that the bullion be released by the BoE to help address the coronavirus emergency in Venezuela. Britain´s central bank, however, has questioned who has the authority to make a request for the bullion.

It claims to be "caught in the middle" of rival claims to the gold -- from the BCV board backed by Maduro and a separate "ad hoc" board appointed by opposition leader Juan Guaido. Lawyer Nick Vineall, representing BCV, told the High Court of England and Wales, "there is one, and only one, functioning government in Venezuela: the Maduro government".

Although London "does not approve of the Maduro government" it recognises his administration, he told the hearing, which was held remotely because of coronavirus restrictions. "It is common for the (UK) government to recognise, or to continue to recognise, foreign governments of which it disapproves." He added that there was "a certain Alice in Wonderland quality to the whole idea of an ad hoc board which has control of overseas assets".