London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 03, 2025

UK court rules on who Venezuela's president is, in row over gold

UK court rules on who Venezuela's president is, in row over gold

The Supreme Court has overturned a ruling that put into question London’s recognition of Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s head of state, putting the politician closer to taking control of almost $2bn in Venezuelan gold.
The Monday ruling is part of a court war which Guaido, the self-proclaimed ‘interim president’ of Venezuela, is waging against the country’s elected government over gold reserves put for safekeeping with the Bank of England.

An earlier ruling by an appeals court sided with the government in Caracas, stating that Guaido has no de facto power in Venezuela. Thus, his public recognition as the legitimate head of state by the British government was undermined by its implied recognition of the power that President Nicolas Maduro holds.

The Supreme Court’s five-judge panel overturned that decision, however, stating that the British government “had conclusively recognized Mr. Guaido as Venezuela’s head of state.”

The Supreme Court said the historic distinction of recognition by the British legal system of a government as ‘de jure’ and ‘de facto’ was “now unlikely to have any useful role to play before courts in this jurisdiction.” It added that “the Court of Appeal’s reliance on the outdated concepts of de jure and de facto recognition was … misplaced.”

The latest ruling means that Guaido’s appointments of the management of the Venezuelan Central Bank will be recognized as valid by British courts. The bank is the entity that has a say on what happens to the Venezuelan gold reserves stored in the UK.

However, the court stressed that its decision was narrow and did not opine on the validity of rulings by the Venezuelan Supreme Tribunal of Justice, which dismissed Guaido’s claim on leadership in the country as unconstitutional. It referred that matter to the Commercial Court.

Guaido, then leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, rejected the outcome of the 2018 election in Venezuela, accusing Maduro of rigging the ballot. He proclaimed himself as the legitimate leader of the nation, getting instant recognition and support from the Donald Trump administration and American allies, including the UK.

His multiple attempts to seize actual power in Caracas have all failed. Several people appointed to various ‘offices’ in the Guaido ‘government’ got entangled in various corruption scandals, while others jumped ship.

Earlier this month, the team was abandoned by Julio Borges, who served as Guaido’s ‘foreign minister.’ He lashed out at former colleagues, saying they have turned into a “caste” and that the self-proclaimed government should “disappear” when its supposed mandate expires in January.
Comments

Oh ya 4 year ago
A couple of concerns that other countries need to watch. 1st it is not the UK that should decide who the ruler of a country is. Maybe they will not like the next person in another country and that is not their lot in life. And 2nd there is a good chance England does not have their gold any more. It might have already been sold of lent into the system as they know the bus driver wants it back in his country. Every country storing their gold in another country is taking a risk. Remember if you do not hold it you do not own it

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×