'Huge victory,' says Guaido after UK court recognises him as Venezuela's president in gold dispute

Record ID: 1560372

  • Title: 'Huge victory,' says Guaido after UK court recognises him as Venezuela's president in gold dispute
  • Date: 2nd July 2020
  • Summary: CARACAS, VENEZUELA (FILE) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** SESSION OF VENEZUELAN CONGRESS GUAIDO GREETING LAWMAKERS
  • Embargoed: 16th July 2020 23:35
  • Keywords: English High Court Venezuela gold reserves opposition leader Juan Guaido
  • Location: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
  • City: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
  • Country: Venezuela
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA003CL4C1TZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said on Thursday (July 2) the British recognition of him as Venezuela's president is a "huge victory" to contribute to the protection of country's resources "from the clutches of the corrupt dictatorship."
    Britain has recognised Guaido as the country's president, the English High Court ruled on Thursday, in a case over whether Guaido or Nicolas Maduro should control $1 billion of its gold stored in London.
    The British government in early 2019 joined dozens of nations in backing Guaido, head of Venezuela's opposition-controlled congress after he declared an interim presidency and denounced Maduro as an usurper.
    Guaido, at the time, asked the Bank of England to prevent Maduro's government from accessing the gold, which the opposition claims Maduro wants to use to pay off his foreign allies.
    In May, Maduro's central bank (BCV) sued the Bank of England to recover control, saying it was depriving the BCV of funds needed to finance Venezuela's coronavirus response.
    The Bank of England then asked the court to determine who the British government recognized as Venezuela's president.
    High Court judge Nigel Teare handed down a judgement ruling that Britain had "unequivocally" recognised Guaido as constitutional interim president.
    Over the past two years, Maduro's government has removed some 30 tonnes of gold from its reserves in Venezuela to sell abroad for much-needed hard currency.
    (Production: Efrain Otero, Liamar Ramos)
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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