Thirty-one frozen tonnes at the Bank of England
Venezuela's government and opposition agreed to jointly seek the return of about 31 tonnes of gold held in the Bank of England's vaults beneath Threadneedle Street. The bullion is worth roughly $4.4 billion, and the money would go to reconstruction after the June earthquakes. The bars have been frozen since 2018, when the United Kingdom recognised Juan Guaidó rather than Nicolás Maduro, and British courts spent years weighing which rival central-bank board held authority over the reserves. Venezuela last reported gold holdings of about 161 tonnes to the International Monetary Fund in 2018, which puts the Threadneedle Street bullion at roughly a fifth of that figure. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez appealed directly to King Charles, while opposition representatives want transparency conditions to ensure the money is spent on reconstruction. The June earthquakes killed more than 6000 people, and the central bank said the disruption to distribution helped push inflation up in July. The gold was deposited in 2008, and recovery is expected to stay legally complex while the recognition dispute remains unresolved. The joint request shelves domestic political division for a moment; actual movement of the bars still depends on authority and court lines at the Bank of England.[1]
