Venezuela to appeal British decision to deprive country of its gold

Caracas, July 2 (RHC)-- The Central Bank of Venezuela will appeal the decision of a British court on Thursday that denied the Venezuelan government access to the gold reserves held in the Bank of England.

The court describes this decision by an English court as "absurd and unusual."  It also states that the intention is to deprive the Venezuelan people of the resources necessary to confront COVID-19.

The verdict, handed down by the High Commercial Court, alleges that the British government "unequivocally recognizes" the opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the president of the Venezuela.  
For their part, the lawyers representing the BCV in the lawsuit against their English counterpart announced that the appeal will be made because they consider that the judge does not know "the reality on the ground.

The representation of the Bolivarian nation recalled that President Maduro's government is in charge of Venezuela and all its administrative institutions.  They also emphasized the fact that London maintains full diplomatic relations with Caracas, and that none of the members of the so-called "board of directors" appointed by Guaidó live in the South American nation.

For the BCV, the continuation of diplomatic relations shows that the United Kingdom still recognizes President Maduro as the preident, noted the text signed by the head of the board, Sarosh Zaiwalla.

The Bank of England refused to hand over funds requested by the Venezuelan government to fight COVID-19.  The amount equivalent to one billion dollars would be given to the United Nations Development Program to acquire medical supplies, food and medicine.