Juan Guaido wants to curb Venezuela's gold exports

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido has arrested European countries Requested no longer to import gold from Venezuela. According to him, the European Union should classify this gold as blood gold, because the proceeds would end up in the hands of armed gangs. He also wants to increase the pressure on President Maduro. His government has been encouraging small-scale and artisanal mining since 2016, because exports of the precious metal generate a lot of money.

In an interview with Reuters he explains his position:

"I think Europe can take steps in this direction by banning the trade in gold from Venezuela and designating it as blood gold. The trade in the gold does not benefit vaccines for children in hospitals and medical treatments. What is the money used for in Venezuela? To fund unregulated (armed) groups."

Over the past two years, Venezuela has sold millions of dollars worth of gold, some of it to traders in Turkey. It is not clear how much gold has directly or indirectly ended up in Europe. A spokesman for Guaido said in September that Maduro's government is selling the precious metal in Europe to evade sanctions.

Economic sanctions

The U.S. government imposed sanctions on Maduro's government last year, with the aim of hindering the export of oil and gold. These are the main revenues with which the Maduro government keeps the economy running. As a result of these sanctions, the central bank has No access more to the gold at the Bank of England, but Venezuela still manages to gold too sell.

Venezuela also still manages to trade oil, which is now settled in euros. For example, Russia sent by plane stacks of banknotes to the country, much of which is in euros. These euros circulate in domestic payments as an alternative to the now worthless Venezuelan bolivar.

With this proposal, Guaido is looking for a new way to put pressure on Maduro's government, after the failed coup attempt in early 2019. He proclaimed himself Interim President and was therein Supported by various Western countries.

This contribution was made from Geotrendlines