All That Glitters Isn’t Maduro’s Gold

The dictator wants $1 billion in bullion, but a U.K. judge says no.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in March.

Since 2018 Mr. Maduro’s government has failed to withdraw gold from the Bank of England. About a quarter of Venezuela’s gold reserves, or 31 tons of bullion worth some $1.8 billion, remain in the U.K. London, with the U.S. and dozens of Latin American and European countries, recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the country’s interim leader. And Mr. Guaidó has instructed the BOE to ignore Mr. Maduro’s emissaries.

The regime filed a claim in London this year after requesting to withdraw $1 billion in gold, but it was rejected in a ruling published Thursday. “Where Her Majesty’s Government unequivocally recognizes a person as the de jure or constitutional President the court must give effect to that unequivocal recognition,” wrote Justice Nigel Teare.

Mr. Maduro has remained in power through bribery and brutality. Cuban security services—experts in maintaining control after losing popular support—have provided critical assistance. But the Guaidó and Maduro governments are fighting over state assets around the world, including frozen bank accounts worth $5 billion. Maduro officials say they’ll appeal the U.K. decision, but this is a major victory for Mr. Guaidó and the Venezuelan opposition.

The Maduro government says the gold will pay for humanitarian aid as the country grapples with Covid-19. Venezuela’s health system collapsed before the pandemic thanks to corruption and Mr. Maduro’s mismanagement, and the coronavirus makes it worse.

But the regime can’t be trusted, even if it promises to spend the gold proceeds through the United Nations. The opposition has noted that a 2018 sale of 73 tons of gold by the Venezuelan central bank occurred with zero public accounting, and the Maduro government has rejected humanitarian assistance from the U.S. The government in Caracas exists today to keep the elite in power, and handing it gold won’t help the suffering people of Venezuela.