Venezuela leader Delcy Rodriguez, asks King Charles to release frozen gold assets
Venezuela has made a plea to King Charles asking him to release tons of Venezuelan gold that remains frozen in sanctions against the country’s former leader.
Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, said on Wednesday she had asked the King Charles III to release about 30 tons of Venezuelan gold frozen under UK sanctions so it could be used for earthquake reconstruction.
“I decided to send a letter to the King of England to have the gold held at the Bank of England released,” she said on state television.
“This gold belongs to our people. We need this gold to deal with the consequences of the earthquake.”
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Last month’s twin quakes in Venezuela have killed at least 3800 people, flattened scores of residential buildings and left thousands more homeless or missing.
The United Nations has also launched an urgent appeal for nearly $300 million towards earthquake relief operations.
There is huge humanitarian need after one of Latin America’s worst earthquake disasters left thousands of people homeless and thousands more still missing. In badly damaged La Guaira, families are still digging for the bodies of loved ones in the rubble.
“Donors are already stepping up, and I pay tribute to them, and I thank them,” UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said during a meeting on the disaster.
Officials were appealing for $296 million to provide urgently needed aid for 1.3 million people over six months, he said.
Venezuela called for the release of other frozen assets held by various countries.
“We call upon all countries currently holding blocked funds belonging to Venezuela to initiate a plan to release these funds so that they can be used for recovery efforts,” Foreign Minister Yvan Gil told the UN meeting.
“There are accounts belonging to the Venezuelan state in various parts of the world that have been frozen as a result of illegal sanctions.”
The US government has already lifted a number of economic sanctions against Venezuela for four months to facilitate relief operations.
Washington had imposed sweeping economic sanctions on Venezuela, particularly from 2019 onward, in an effort to squeeze the leftist government of president Nicolas Maduro, whom the United States considered illegitimate.
Since US forces toppled Maduro in January, ties with Caracas have improved.
The Trump administration has supported Rodriguez and has gradually eased sanctions, particularly to facilitate the development of Venezuela’s huge oil reserves.
Even before the June 24 tragedy, Venezuela struggled with decades of economic turmoil that left infrastructure and health services depleted.
The UN estimates the quakes caused $6.7 billion in damage — equivalent to six percent Venezuela’s GDP.
The international airport serving Caracas was also damaged and is still closed to commercial flights.
Recovery of bodies
Two weeks after the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes, international rescue teams have mostly ended attempts to find survivors though families continue to scour ruins for bodies.
The government updated the death toll on Wednesday to 3811 and said nearly 17,000 were injured.
Nearly 18,000 people have been left homeless by the quakes which flattened scores of residential buildings in La Guaira.
In the Caraballeda sector of La Guaira, three families sat Wednesday at a corner waiting for donations after searching the area for food, water and other supplies.
They managed to find diapers, bottles of water, toilet paper and some food.
“I don’t know how long we will be like this,” said Stefani Garate, 26, who used to sell coconut candies on the beach.
“At least today they gave us some rice, spaghetti and sardines.”
Genesis Ramirez, 34, a hairdresser, was looking for her nieces in the wreckage of one building.
“How can I not have hope when a baby was pulled alive from this same building? How can I lose faith?” she said. “Until you see the body, you don’t lose hope.”
Nearly a dozen excavators removed rubble from the OPP housing complex where several towers completely collapsed.
A few people there maintained a vigil, hoping to recover their loved ones’ bodies.
The stench of decomposition permeated the air, as a woman wept over a black body bag.
