The London Court of Appeal overturned a 2nd July judgment barring Venezuela from retrieving its 31 tonnes of gold deposited as security for its oil shipments.

At first instance, the court had ruled that in consonance with the "one voice" doctrine, Her Majesty’s government having recognized Juan Guaidó as president of Venezuela, President Nicolás Maduro and his representatives could no longer have access to the gold stored at the Bank of England.

The higher court, on the contrary, deemed this decision to be detrimental to the reputation of the Bank of England. It made a distinction between the UK government’s recognition of Juan Guaidó as president from Nicolás Maduro’s official exercise of executive power.

Venezuela will therefore be able to pursue proceedings before Commercial Justice.


– “UK steals $ 1 billion”, by Samuel Moncada, Voltaire Network, 26 May 2020.
– “British explanations on the role of the Crown in Venezuela”, by Jonathan Allen, Voltaire Network, 29 May 2020.
– “Venezuelan response to British explanations for its actions”, by Samuel Moncada, Voltaire Network, 8 June 2020.
– "British justice endorses heist of Venezuelan gold”, Voltaire Network, 2 July 2020.