Caracas, August 17, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan sovereign gold reserves held by the Bank of England are set to be released and placed under US Treasury Department management.
Following recent US-backed talks between the acting Delcy Rodríguez government and representatives of the defunct, opposition-majority parliament elected in 2015, the two sides agreed to work together to secure the unfreezing of the 31 tons of gold, worth around US $4.3 billion at current prices, to support post-earthquake recovery efforts.
Ramón López, a member of the opposition delegation, disclosed that the resources would be deposited in a US Treasury bank account and be subjected to external audits.
“The gold will be released with appropriate planning and control mechanisms,” he said in an interview. “[The gold] will be deposited in a US Treasury account and audited by international firms.”
López added that the resources will be used on housing and healthcare projects, as well as support for families who lost their homes in the June 24 double earthquake. “The expenses will be permanently audited,” he added.
The former deputy did not specify whether the gold would be transferred to the US or exchanged. The Rodríguez administration has not commented on the foreign custodianship of the country’s reserves.
The US-endorsed dialogue also saw the government and opposition agree to reform the Supreme Court (TSJ) and renew its justices. Appointing magistrates is a constitutional competency of the Venezuelan National Assembly, which already had a commission evaluating candidacies. The process will now restart.
Successive UK governments, both Conservative and Labour, followed Washington in refusing to recognize the Nicolás Maduro government and return the gold to Caracas. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Venezuelan authorities launched a legal effort to reclaim the reserves from the Bank of England, with plans to channel the proceeds through the United Nations to strengthen the healthcare system, but UK courts rejected it.
The gold reserves are the latest Venezuelan state assets taken over by Washington. Since the January 3 US attack and kidnapping of Maduro, the Trump administration has seized control of Venezuelan export revenues, particularly from crude sales, with the disbursement timings and amounts left at the discretion of White House officials.
Luigi Pisella, appointed by Acting President Rodríguez to a commission evaluating state assets for privatization, recently stated that Washington is deducting the costs of its military operation from Venezuela’s oil revenues.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has maintained economic sanctions against Venezuela, issuing only waivers allowing select Western corporations to strike energy agreements with Caracas following pro-business legislative overhauls. Following the June 24 earthquake, the US Treasury issued a limited license allowing relief-related transactions until October.
Apart from UK-held gold reserves, Venezuelan officials have also called for the release of other frozen assets, including $4.5 billion in IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and multiple US- and Europe-based bank accounts belonging to state institutions.
The 2015 opposition-controlled parliament has administered billions of dollars worth of Venezuelan state assets abroad despite its term expiring in January 2021. Up until March 2026, Washington recognized the defunct opposition-led legislature as Caracas’ legitimate authority. Opposition figures, including former self-proclaimed “Interim President” Juan Guaidó, were implicated in major corruption allegations related to the handling of thecountry’s assets.
Edited by Lucas Koerner in Philadelphia, USA.
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