Could Venezuela's Frozen Gold Help Earthquake Victims? The UK Dilemma Explained

A number of major charities in both Spain and the United Kingdom have appealed to the general public to assist by donating funds that will go towards help for victims of the Venezuelan earthquakes which took place on June 24.

Some, 3,500 people died and 17,500 were listed as missing with Venezuelan Capital Caracas being badly affected.

The cost of recovery is bound to be enormous and Venezuela is no longer the growing economic powerhouse it was between the 1950s and 1970s when it was considered one of the wealthiest countries in South America.

Oil was, of course the main reason for its strength but things started to go wrong in the 1980s and then rapidly declined under the leadership of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro.

In the long term, the actions taken by the American Government to topple Maduro may see the country regain some of its financial strength but at the moment the current leader Delcy Rodríguez is trying desperately to obtain funds to resolve the immediate future.

What few people realize that various authorities across the world, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank of England have been sitting on Venezuelan funds since Maduro took power.

Interim President Delcy Rodríguez has managed to persuade the IMF to release $346 million of funds that were frozen, but gold worth a much higher amount sits in the vaults of the Bank of England.

It is not unusual for governments to keep a portion of its assets in other countries and it is estimated that 31 tons of gold, now worth in excess of $4 billion continues to be held by the Bank of England and has been the subject of legal dispute since 2018

There is no question that the gold belongs to Venezuela but the British Government refused to recognise the Maduro Government and although the Bank of England is supposedly independent, the Bank agreed not to return that gold to Venezuela.

In fact, at the time, whilst Britain recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as the properly elected president of the country, it effectively instructed the ‘independent’ Bank of England to keep the gold in its vaults.

When humanitarian need collides with international politics, the greatest cost is often paid by ordinary people.

Maduro was furious as even then, his country had significant financial difficulties and he argued that he wanted the gold released so that he could spend most of it on supporting the local health system which was breaking down even before the pandemic hit.

Some may contend that as his record was questionable, there was therefore some grounds not to trust his words, but it is suggested that a change of leader should have resolved the situation, however because Rodriguez was Maduro´s deputy, the British Government is still not willing to recognise her as the rightful leader of Venezuela even though political links between the South American country and the USA have been established.

It is not known how much gold Venezuela holds in other countries but having deposited the 31 tons in the UK in 2008, when it was valued at around $900 million, the ´profit´ is significant and would help to rebuild the two areas of devastation.

Venezuela has tried to obtain access to its gold through the Courts and as recently as 2025 the UK Supreme Court decided to reject an appeal from the Central Bank of Venezuela to remove the gold bars currently sitting in the Bank of England.

According to Delcy Rodríguez in a statement given to Venezuelan television, “That gold belongs to our people and should be used to address the terrible, tragic consequences of this double earthquake,” adding “Venezuela has the resources to recover, to get back on its feet.”

Under the Premiership of Sir Keir Stramer, it appears that there was to be no change of position and following Maduro´s arrest, the then Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper stated that the new government under Rodriguez was still not being recognised by His Majesty´s Government.

Testing this however, CNN has indicated that Rodriguez has written to H.M. King Charles III asking that the gold be released for use in reconstruction efforts, even though she would know that as a constitutional monarch he does not get involved in political disputes.

Nevertheless, with a new Prime Minister in Andy Burnham and Foreign Secretary in Ed Miliband, possibly a word in the right ear by a Buckingham Palace equerry might have a chance of success.

Unless the British believe that the interim president is herself dishonest and unlikely to use the funds from the gold to assist the rebuilding, it does rather seem that in this particular matter, political obstinacy is coming before the need to offer assistance to victims, especially when it costs the UK nothing.

Shakespeare wrote "All that glisters is not gold" but for those coping with the devastation of the two earthquakes, they hope that in this case it is!