*Di Bank of Englad ada 31 ton emas milik Venezuela. Apakah NKRI juga menyimpan emas di luarnegeri? Apakah memiliki cadangan emas ataukah sudah dihabiskan oleh rayap elit penguasa, maka oleh sebab itu selalu harus berhutang untuk menutupi defisit APBN?*
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/02/world/europe/venezuela-gold-uk-nicolas-maduro.html *Nicolás Maduro Can’t Sell Venezuelan Gold at Bank of England, Court Rules* It would be unlawful to allow Mr. Maduro access to the gold, a British High Court judge said, because Britain’s government recognizes his rival, Juan Guaidó, as Venezuela’s rightful leader. President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela in Caracas in March. Credit... Manaure Quintero/Reuters *By **Elian Peltier* <https://www.nytimes.com/by/elian-peltier>* and Anatoly Kurmanaev* - *July 2, 2020* - LONDON — A British judge ruled on Thursday that President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela cannot get access to $1.8 billion in gold in a Bank of England vault, because Britain does not recognize him as the leader of his suffering country. Like many Western countries, including the United States, the British government has “unequivocally recognized” the opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the country’s interim president, a High Court judge in London, Nigel Teare, wrote in his ruling, adding that it was therefore unlawful to give the gold to Mr. Maduro. The decision was the latest blow to Mr. Maduro and his efforts to revive an economy that has been* in free-fall for years* <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/17/world/americas/venezuela-economy.html>, battered by international sanctions, low oil prices, corruption and *now the coronavirus* <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/world/americas/venezuela-maduro-oil.html>. Venezuela’s government has struggled to tackle the pandemic with a once-robust health care system now *depleted of its most basic needs* <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/world/americas/venezuela-pregnancy-birth-death.html> .. The Central Bank of Venezuela had sought access to the gold reserves in Britain, prompting a legal fight over who had the authority to seek their release — Mr. Guaidó, officially the head of the Venezuelan National Assembly, or Mr. Maduro’s government. ADVERTISEMEN Venezuela has long stored gold reserves at the Bank of England, which has the world’s second largest cache of gold behind the New York Federal Reserve. Mr. Maduro’s government said earlier this year that funds raised from selling the equivalent of $1 billion of Venezuela’s gold reserves would be routed through the United Nations Development Program to import food and medicine for an increasingly desperate populace and shore up the country’s pandemic response. Sanctions have helped crush the Venezuelan economy, but food, medical supplies and humanitarian efforts are exempt from *British sanctions * <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2019/135/schedule/4/made>on the country. Mr. Guaidó’s team, which has urged the British government not to transfer the gold to the Bank of Venezuela since early 2019, argued that the money would be squandered on corruption and cronyism that have been a hallmark of Mr. Maduro’s seven-year rule, turning Venezuela into one of the world’s most dysfunctional countries. *Editors’ Picks* <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/magazine/jeff-sessions.html?action=click&algo=als_engaged1_desk_filter&block=editors_picks_recirc&fellback=false&imp_id=596230016&impression_id=319175103&index=0&pgtype=Article®ion=ccolumn&req_id=910848054&surface=home-featured&action=click&module=editorContent&pgtype=Article®ion=CompanionColumn&contentCollection=Trending> *The Fall of Jeff Sessions, and What Came After* <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/magazine/jeff-sessions.html?action=click&algo=als_engaged1_desk_filter&block=editors_picks_recirc&fellback=false&imp_id=596230016&impression_id=319175103&index=0&pgtype=Article®ion=ccolumn&req_id=910848054&surface=home-featured&action=click&module=editorContent&pgtype=Article®ion=CompanionColumn&contentCollection=Trending> <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/02/travel/venice-coronavirus-tourism.html?action=click&algo=als_engaged1_desk_filter&block=editors_picks_recirc&fellback=false&imp_id=397391620&impression_id=332843895&index=1&pgtype=Article®ion=ccolumn&req_id=910848054&surface=home-featured&action=click&module=editorContent&pgtype=Article®ion=CompanionColumn&contentCollection=Trending> *Venice Tourism May Never Be the Same. It Could Be Better.* <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/02/travel/venice-coronavirus-tourism.html?action=click&algo=als_engaged1_desk_filter&block=editors_picks_recirc&fellback=false&imp_id=397391620&impression_id=332843895&index=1&pgtype=Article®ion=ccolumn&req_id=910848054&surface=home-featured&action=click&module=editorContent&pgtype=Article®ion=CompanionColumn&contentCollection=Trending> <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/books/review/the-hardhat-riot-david-paul-kuhn.html?action=click&algo=als_engaged1_desk_filter&block=editors_picks_recirc&fellback=false&imp_id=624264707&impression_id=389139938&index=2&pgtype=Article®ion=ccolumn&req_id=910848054&surface=home-featured&action=click&module=editorContent&pgtype=Article®ion=CompanionColumn&contentCollection=Trending> *The Day the White Working Class Turned Republican* <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/books/review/the-hardhat-riot-david-paul-kuhn.html?action=click&algo=als_engaged1_desk_filter&block=editors_picks_recirc&fellback=false&imp_id=624264707&impression_id=389139938&index=2&pgtype=Article®ion=ccolumn&req_id=910848054&surface=home-featured&action=click&module=editorContent&pgtype=Article®ion=CompanionColumn&contentCollection=Trending> Continue reading the main story <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/02/world/europe/venezuela-gold-uk-nicolas-maduro.html?action=click&module=editorContent&pgtype=Article®ion=CompanionColumn&contentCollection=Trending#after-pp_edpick> Image [image: Venezuela has gold reserves at the Bank of England, which has the world’s second largest cache of gold behind the New York Federal Reserve.] Venezuela has gold reserves at the Bank of England, which has the world’s second largest cache of gold behind the New York Federal Reserve. Credit... Andy Rain/EPA, via Shutterstock The Bank of England refused to release the gold, arguing that it had received conflicting instructions from the rival factions claiming to be Venezuela’s legitimate government, and the Central Bank of Venezuela responded by filing a lawsuit in May. ADVERTISEMENT Continue reading the main story <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/02/world/europe/venezuela-gold-uk-nicolas-maduro.html#after-story-ad-2>
