CARACAS, August 12 (EFE): Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Ariza received, Thursday, the new British business director, Rebecca Buckingham, in order to “strengthen relations” between the two countries “in the framework of sober respect”.
“Ariza has received the Chargé d’Affairs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Rebecca Buckingham, in order to strengthen bilateral relations within the framework of respect for sovereignty and international law,” the Foreign Office wrote on its Twitter account. .
Buckingham was already received by the Deputy Foreign Minister for Europe, Evan Gill, on August 5, who reiterated the will of the Caribbean country to maintain diplomatic channels with the United Kingdom.
The UK maintains its support for the opposition Juan Guaido, which it recognizes as interim president of Venezuela, despite mounting pressure to determine his next steps with the government of Nicolás Maduro.
After recognizing in January 2019 Guaido, Speaker of the National Assembly (AN, Parliament) as the responsible president for Venezuela, the UK, in line with the US, established the controversial “Venezuelan Reconstruction Unit” with the purported mission to advance their interests in the face of potential regime change in Caracas.
At the heart of relations between the two countries lies an open lawsuit in British courts over Venezuela’s gold deposited in the Bank of England, which Maduro and Guaido both claim.
Who the British government recognizes as president in Venezuela is an important element of English justice to decide which side has access to gold reserves, estimated to be worth about $2,000 million, held in the Bank of England, as well as $120 million from a swap executed by Deutsche Bank.
James Eddy, legal adviser to the British Foreign Office, last July reiterated the “clear and unambiguous” position that Boris Johnson’s chief executive only recognizes Guaido as Venezuela’s head of state and his powers to act as such.
