The Venezuelan government delivered a recent letter signed by Queen Elizabeth II to strengthen its claim to the more than one billion dollars (USD) of gold held in the Bank of England.

The diplomatic correspondence is proof that Britain recognizes Nicolás Maduro as Venezuela’s president, said Calixto Ortega, head of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV).

This undermined a judge’s decision in London last month denying the Maduro government control over gold bullion, Ortega said.

Britain issuing visas to Maduro officials also strengthened the government’s position, Ortega added.

Opposition Juan Guaido is also seeking to reclaim control of gold in a long-running legal battle after Britain recognized him as Venezuela’s president in 2019. Maduro’s government has said it will appeal the latest court ruling.

“Three letters signed by the Queen are formal demands,” Ortega said in Paris, on his way back to Caracas from London, where he discussed the matter with his lawyers.

The bullion, held in the vaults of the Bank of England, represents about one-fifth of Venezuela’s $5.2 billion international reserves, excluding special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the country currently has no access to.

With more legal disputes to be expected, neither the Maduro government nor Guaido and his allies are likely to gain control of the assets any time soon.

Caribbean Islands

Ortega showed Bloomberg News two letters signed by Elizabeth II in June, in her capacity as Queen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

In the first letter, he informed him of the change in the representative of the Caribbean country based in Caracas, while in the second he asked Maduro to ratify the new one.

In another letter, the Queen wrote to Maduro on behalf of the Government of Saint Lucia. The three letters were addressed to “His Excellency Nicolás Maduro Moros, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela”.

The letters were sent to Ortega by the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, he said.

Queen Elizabeth is the head of state of several Caribbean countries, which are independent from London and follow their own foreign policies.

Strategy

Ortega’s legal team will decide on his new strategy as he prepares his appeal.

Trying to include the papers as new evidence could risk prolonging the case, Ortega said.

Maduro’s government believes that the court’s decision has “major consequences” for other countries that have assets in the UK financial system.

“At stake here is London’s reputation as the most neutral and trusted place to do business in the world,” said Ortega.

“They said something in court and, in fact, they behaved differently,” he added.

He also presented his own diplomatic passport, stamped with eight visas issued by British authorities since June 2018, as evidence that the London government recognized Maduro’s officials as legitimate.

The British charge d’affaires in Venezuela also requested a visa from the Maduro government in 2021, which was granted, he added.

British judges, including the Supreme Court, have consistently accepted Britain’s “clear and unequivocal acknowledgment” of Guaido as president.

British courts are not dependent on political decision-making.

His victory at the London court has been one of the few bright spots in recent months for Guaido, who has seen his support falter as Maduro maintains power.

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