The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced on Wednesday it will block the Maduro regime in Venezuela from accessing $400 million in funds until a legitimate government is put in place.

According to reports, the IMF suspended the cash-strapped Venezuelan regime’s access to around $400 million of special drawing rights in January, after they recently reduced their total holdings down from $1 billion.

“Any IMF engagement with Venezuela, including responding to potential financial transaction requests, is predicated on the issue of government recognition being clarified,” an IMF spokesman told AFP. “We are guided by our membership on that issue, and at this point, this determination has not been made.”

The international community is currently divided over the issue of recognizing Nicolás Maduro’s socialist regime as legitimate. The majority of Western democracies recognize Juan Guaidó, who took an oath of office in January, as President of Venezuela. However, Maduro still retains the backing of other leftist government in Latin America including Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Cuba, while other authoritarian regimes in Russia, China, Turkey, and Iran also support his leadership.

The move represents another defeat for the Maduro regime, which has desperately attempted to repatriate its foreign assets amid an economic crisis so severe that millions of Venezuelans have been forced to flee the country, often in need of humanitarian assistance. The government has also defaulted on over $10 billion in payments, mainly in the form of loans from China, Russia, and other lenders.

Much of the regime’s difficulty in accessing funds has been a result of U.S. economic sanctions, which ban Americans from dealing with the regime or its state-run companies in any financial capacity. The country currently holds around $6 billion worth of gold, amounting to two-thirds of its total foreign assets, although this has proved almost impossible to liquidate because of U.S. sanctions.

In January, the Bank of England refused to hand over around $1.2 billion of gold from its vaults, citing the regime’s flagrant degradation of democracy, while the U.S. has handed control of various Venezuelan bank accounts to Juan Guaidó and his advisers. One adviser to Guaidó, Harvard Professor Ricardo Hausmann, told Bloomberg that all the necessary funds “will be available when this usurpation ends.”

Venezuela’s socialist regime has long had a contentious relationship with the Washington-based IMF, whose rules state that a government must be recognized by a majority of member countries in order to access their reserves. In 2007, the late socialist dictator Hugo Chávez pledged to cut all ties with the fund, but he never carried through on the plan because of fears it would send the country into default. “They will wear away — the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and all those institutions,” Chavez said at the time.

Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com. </s> The Bank of England has cut off access to $1.2 billion of Venezuela’s gold assets from the regime of Nicolás Maduro, sources have told Bloomberg.

The British central bank halted the regime’s accessing the $1.2bn (£910 million) after U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo had allegedly lobbied their UK counterparts to deny Maduro access to his overseas assets, people familiar with the situation told the broadcaster.

The funds represent a part of the some $8bn (£6.06bn) held in foreign reserves by the Venezuelan central bank. It is believed, according to Bloomberg, that in mid-December the president of Venezuela’s central bank, Calixto Ortega, led a delegation to London to access the gold reserves but was unsuccessful.

The Bank of England did not return comment on whether the Maduro regime had been cut off from Venezuela’s British-held assets, but told Bloomberg the central bank “provides banking services – including gold custody services – to a large number of customers” and that it “does not comment on any of those relationships.”

On Wednesday, the U.S. recognised National Assembly leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president.

President Donald J. Trump said the Venezuelan National Assembly, a unicameral government body, was the “only legitimate branch of government” remaining in the country, adding, “The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law.”

The United Kingdom recognised Mr Guaido as interim president shortly thereafter. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said ahead of a meeting with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Pompeo on Thursday, “We are extremely concerned about the situation in Venezuela, but it is clear that Nicolás Maduro is not the legitimate leader of Venezuela.

“The election on 20th May was deeply flawed; ballot boxes were stuffed, there were counting irregularities and the opposition was banned. This regime has done untold damage to the people of Venezuela, 10% of the population have left Venezuela such is the misery they are suffering.

“So the United Kingdom believes Juan Guaido is the right person to take Venezuela forward. We are supporting the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and Argentina to make that happen.”

The UK has so far been the only European Union nation to back the U.S., Canada, and most of South America in backing Mr Guaido.

While stressing its support for public protest against socialist former President Maduro, the progressive, left-wing bloc has stopped short of recognising Mr Guaido as interim leader, calling instead for fresh elections.

“The EU strongly calls for the start of an immediate political process leading to free and credible elections, in conformity with the Constitutional order,” Brussels policy chief Federica Mogherini said. </s> Britain rejected Venezuela’s request to withdraw $1.2bn in gold stored in the UK, according to reports. It was enough for the self-declared and US-backed ‘president’, Juan Guaido, to support the alleged move.

The Bank of England blocked Venezuela’s attempts to retrieve $1.2 billion worth of gold stored as the nation’s foreign reserves in Britain, sources told Bloomberg on Friday.

According to the media outlet, officials in Caracas have for weeks been trying to withdraw the gold, with Calixto Ortega, the head of Venezuela’s central bank, traveling to London in mid-December to seek access to the nation’s assets.

The talks were “unsuccessful,” as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the national security advisor to President Donald Trump, John Bolton, pressured their British counterparts to freeze the Venezuelan assets, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

By some estimates, Venezuela holds more than $8 billion in foreign reserves. According to earlier reports, the amount of Venezuelan gold kept in the Bank of England doubled in recent months, growing from 14 to 31 tons.

The South American nation has reportedly experienced problems in extracting its own gold from the Bank of England in the past. Bankers in Britain were allegedly concerned that Venezuelan officials would sell the state-owned gold “for personal gain.”

The Bank of England, along with press officials for Pompeo and Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, declined to comment.

Despite the fact that the story was not confirmed, the alleged move of the British bank was swiftly praised by the self-proclaimed ‘interim president’ of Venezuela. “The process of protecting the assets of Venezuela has begun,” Juan Guaido tweeted.

“We will not allow more abuse and theft of money intended for food, medicine and the future of our children.”

Guaido, the speaker of the national parliament, declared himself ‘interim president’ of the state earlier with week in opposition to Maduro. He was subsequently recognized as the “legitimate” leader of Venezuela by the US, Canada, and the majority of South American nations.

Maduro was backed by states like Mexico, Russia, China, and Turkey. He slammed the US for endorsing Guaido, ordering its diplomats to leave the county.

Moscow said it will continue to recognize Maduro as the sole democratically-elected leader of the country and called on others to not allow “destructive foreign interference” in Venezuelan affairs.

Venezuela has seen a series of large-scale anti-government protests in recent years. Some of them spiraled into riots and clashes with police. Nicolas Maduro blasted “foreign interference” as a source behind the unrest, while in particular accusing US officials of endorsing the rallies and Washington of planning to overthrow him. The anti-government protests were met with counter-demonstrations by Maduro supporters.

Like this story? Share it with a friend! </s> Neutral Uruguay's name mentioned in attempts to drain Venezuelan coffers

A bank in Portugal has blocked Venezuela’s attempt to transfer US$ 1.2 billion to Uruguay, a lawmaker said on Tuesday as the opposition to President Nicolas Maduro warned of the theft of public funds, while the United States sent food and medical aid to the Venezuelan-Colombian border.

Pressure is building on Maduro, to resign amid an economic crisis marked by widespread shortages and hyperinflation, with the United States and a growing number of other nations recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate president.

Pope Francis on Tuesday expressed willingness for the Vatican to mediate Venezuela’s mounting crisis if both sides seek it.

Russia, which along with China has backed Maduro in the crisis, underscored its view that the crisis can be resolved only with negotiations between the government and opposition.

Guaido, who declared himself interim president last month, met on Tuesday with business leaders at Venezuela’s main business group, Fedecamaras, to discuss an economic recovery plan under a future transition government in oil rich Venezuela.

Maduro’s adversaries have warned that Venezuelan officials are seeking to drain state coffers ahead of a potential change of government.

Portugal-based Novo Banco halted the US$ 1.2 billion transfer of Venezuelan government financial assets to Uruguayan banks, legislator Carlos Paparoni underscored during a congressional session, a day after Guaido said authorities were trying to move funds.

“I’m pleased to inform the Venezuelan people that this transaction has until now been halted, protecting the resources of all Venezuelans,” Paparoni said.

Lisbon-based Novo Banco, is 75% owned by U.S. private equity firm Lone Star Funds.

The Uruguayan financial authorities denied such a transaction underlining the country strictly abides by international legislation and has applied to become a member of OECD, for which its banking system must comply with its rules to avoid being black listed as a non-cooperating country.

However it must also be said that the ideological affinity of the Uruguayan ruling coalition with the Venezuelan regimes of both deceased Hugo Chavez and the current Nicolas Maduro has been very strong, and helps to explain the country's 'neutrality' in the current conflict.

Furthermore members of president Tabare Vazquez family and cronies of ex president Jose Mujica have been involved in numerous dubious business dealings with Venezuelan officials, who are not known precisely for their transparency or honesty, but rather as looters or financial predators. </s> CARACAS (Reuters) - A bank in Portugal has blocked Venezuela’s attempt to transfer $1.2 billion to Uruguay, a lawmaker said on Tuesday as the opposition to President Nicolas Maduro warned of the theft of public funds, while the United States sent food and medical aid to the Venezuelan-Colombian border.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido talks to the media before a session of the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela February 5, 2019. REUTERS/Manaure Quintero

Pressure is building on Maduro, a socialist, to resign amid an economic crisis marked by widespread shortages and hyperinflation, with the United States and a growing number of other nations recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate president.

Pope Francis on Tuesday expressed willingness for the Vatican to mediate Venezuela’s mounting crisis if both sides seek it. Russia, which along with China has backed Maduro in the crisis, underscored its view that the crisis can be resolved only with negotiations between the government and opposition.

Guaido, who declared himself interim president last month, is scheduled to meet later on Tuesday with business leaders at Venezuela’s main business group, Fedecamaras, to discuss an economic recovery plan under a future transition government in the OPEC-member South American country.

Maduro’s adversaries have warned that Venezuelan officials are seeking to drain state coffers ahead of a potential change of government.

Portugal-based Novo Banco halted the $1.2 billion transfer of Venezuelan government financial assets to Uruguayan banks, legislator Carlos Paparoni said during a congressional session, a day after Guaido said authorities were trying to move funds.

“I’m pleased to inform the Venezuelan people that this transaction has until now been halted, protecting the resources of all Venezuelans,” Paparoni said.

Venezuela’s Information Ministry, which handles all media inquiries, did not immediately respond to a request to comment.

Lisbon-based Novo Banco, which is 75 percent-owned by U.S. private equity firm Lone Star Funds, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Major European nations including Britain, Germany, France and Spain joined the United States on Monday in recognizing Guaido, while members of a separate regional bloc, the so-called Lima Group, kept the political heat on Maduro.

In power since former President Hugo Chavez’s death in 2013, Maduro has been accused by critics of running the OPEC nation of 30 million people like a dictatorship. Critics have called last year’s disputed presidential vote in which Maduro won re-election a sham, and the mainstream opposition boycotted it.

Trucks carrying food and medical supplies sent by the United States to be stockpiled until it can be brought into Venezuela will arrive later this week at Guaido’s request and will be prepositioned at the main Colombian-Venezuelan border crossing at Cucuta, U.S. officials with knowledge of the plan said.

It is unclear how the supplies will get into Venezuela without Maduro’s blessing and cooperation of the Venezuelan military, which has remained loyal to his government and is stationed on the Venezuelan side of the border.

VATICAN INTERVENTION

The pope, speaking to reporters aboard his plane while returning from a trip to Abu Dhabi, confirmed that Maduro had written a letter to him but said he had not yet read it. Maduro told Italian broadcaster Sky TG24 on Monday that he had sent the letter to the pope “for help in the process of facilitating and reinforcing dialogue.”

Asked about a possible direct mediation effort by the Vatican, the pope said, “I will read the letter and see what can be done, but the initial condition is that both sides ask for it. We are willing.”

Given the failure of previous rounds of dialogue, including one led by the Vatican, opponents are suspicious, believing Maduro uses them to quell protests and buy time.

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to address the Venezuela situation in his annual State of the Union address in Washington later on Tuesday.

Slideshow (4 Images)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Venezuela crisis could be solved only by getting the authorities and opposition to talk to each other, Russia’s RIA news agency reported.

“We continue to believe that the only way to exit this crisis is by sitting the government and opposition down at the negotiating table,” Lavrov was quoted as saying by RIA. “Otherwise it will simply be the same regime change that the West had done many times.” </s> (Bloomberg) -- Nicolas Maduro’s embattled Venezuelan regime, desperate to hold onto the dwindling cash pile it has abroad, was stymied in its bid to pull $1.2 billion worth of gold out of the Bank of England, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Bank of England’s decision to deny Maduro officials’ withdrawal request comes after top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton, lobbied their U.K. counterparts to help cut off the regime from its overseas assets, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified.

The U.K. followed the U.S. and other countries on Wednesday in recognizing Juan Guaido, the National Assembly leader, as the legitimate president of Venezuela. Maduro, an authoritarian ruler who’s overseen the country’s collapse into economic chaos, refuses to give up power, though, and has the backing of the military.

The U.S. officials are now trying to steer Venezuela’s overseas assets to Guaido to help bolster his chances of effectively taking control of the government. The $1.2 billion of gold is a big chunk of the $8 billion in foreign reserves held by the Venezuelan central bank. The whereabouts of much of it is unknown.

Meanwhile, officials at the central bank in Caracas have been ordered to no longer try contacting the Bank of England. These central bankers have been told that Bank of England staffers will not respond to them, citing compliance reasons, said a Venezuelan official, who asked not to be identified because he’s not authorized to speak publicly.

The Bank of England declined to comment on its handling of Venezuelan gold, saying it “provides banking services – including gold custody services – to a large number of customers” and “does not comment on any of those relationships.” The State Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment and an NSC spokesman declined to comment. A press official for Maduro also declined to comment.

--With assistance from Eric Martin, Alex Vasquez, Fabiola Zerpa, Jillian Ward and Nick Wadhams.

To contact the reporters on this story: Patricia Laya in Caracas at playa2@bloomberg.net;Ethan Bronner in New York at ebronner@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net, ;Daniel Cancel at dcancel@bloomberg.net, Patricia Laya

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com </s> Nicolas Maduro’s embattled Venezuelan regime, desperate to hold onto the dwindling cash pile it has abroad, was stymied in its bid to pull $1.2 billion worth of gold out of the Bank of England, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Bank of England’s decision to deny Maduro officials’ withdrawal request comes after top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Adviser John Bolton, lobbied their U.K. counterparts to help cut off the regime from its overseas assets, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified.

The U.K. followed the U.S. and other countries on Wednesday in recognizing Juan Guaido, the National Assembly leader, as the legitimate president of Maduro, an authoritarian ruler who’s overseen the country’s collapse into economic chaos, refuses to give up power, though, and has the backing of the The European Union threatened to recognize Guaido unless a “credible” presidential election is called with eight days, according to a draft statement seen by Bloomberg.

The U.S. officials are trying to steer Venezuela’s overseas assets to Guaido to help bolster his chances of effectively taking control of the government. The $1.2 billion of gold is a big chunk of the $8 billion in foreign reserves held by the Venezuelan central bank. The whereabouts of the rest of them is largely unknown. Turkey, though, has emerged recently as a destination for freshly mined Venezuelan gold.

The U.S. is leading an effort to persuade -- a key Maduro backer, along with Russia and China -- to stop being a conduit for these gold shipments. Europe’s shift of position clarifies the battles lines over and aligns key powers such as Germany, France and more closely with the Trump administration.

Nicolas Maduro’s embattled Venezuelan regime, desperate to hold onto the dwindling cash pile it has abroad, was stymied in its bid to pull $1.2 billion worth of gold out of the Bank of England, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Bank of England’s decision to deny Maduro officials’ withdrawal request comes after top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Adviser John Bolton, lobbied their U.K. counterparts to help cut off the regime from its overseas assets, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified.

The U.K. followed the U.S. and other countries on Wednesday in recognizing Juan Guaido, the National Assembly leader, as the legitimate president of Maduro, an authoritarian ruler who’s overseen the country’s collapse into economic chaos, refuses to give up power, though, and has the backing of the The European Union threatened to recognize Guaido unless a “credible” presidential election is called with eight days, according to a draft statement seen by Bloomberg.

The U.S. officials are trying to steer Venezuela’s overseas assets to Guaido to help bolster his chances of effectively taking control of the government. The $1.2 billion of gold is a big chunk of the $8 billion in foreign reserves held by the Venezuelan central bank. The whereabouts of the rest of them is largely unknown. Turkey, though, has emerged recently as a destination for freshly mined Venezuelan gold.

The U.S. is leading an effort to persuade -- a key Maduro backer, along with Russia and China -- to stop being a conduit for these gold shipments. Europe’s shift of position clarifies the international battles lines over Venezuela and aligns key powers such as Germany, France and more closely with the Trump administration.

“We want democracy and free in Venezuela,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Saturday. “I want to state absolutely clearly that if within eight days, fair, free and transparent are not called in Venezuela, will recognize Juan Guaido as president.”

Retrieving the gold in the has been a major priority for the Maduro regime for weeks. Back in mid-December, Calixto Ortega, the president of Venezuela’s central bank, led a delegation to London that sought to gain access to it, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

But those talks were unsuccessful, and communications between the two sides have broken down since. Central bank officials in Caracas have been ordered to no longer try contacting the These have been told that staffers will not respond to them, citing compliance reasons, said a Venezuelan official, who asked not to be identified.

The Bank of England declined to comment on its handling of Venezuelan assets, saying it “provides banking services – including gold custody services – to a large number of customers” and “does not comment on any of those relationships.”

When asked about the fate of Venezuelan assets abroad Friday, Pompeo declined to comment, as did a spokesman for the Council. The Treasury released a statement saying that the U.S. “will use its economic and diplomatic tools to ensure that commercial transactions by the Venezuelan Government, including those involving its state-owned enterprises and international reserves, are consistent with” its recognition of Juan Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela.

A press official for Maduro declined to comment.

Gold has formed a crucial part of Venezuela’s foreign reserves for years. Hugo Chavez, the late socialist leader and mentor to Maduro, plowed much of the country’s oil wealth into gold in part because of his disdain for the U.S. dollar. In 2011, Chavez ordered the repatriation of $11 billion worth of gold bars from the Bank of England and other foreign institutions. As Venezuela fell deeper into economic crisis years later, though, the Maduro regime began selling them off to raise the cash it desperately needed to fund imports and to try, unsuccessfully, to avoid defaulting on its foreign debt.

"The first rule of business as we speak is to stop the Maduro government from liquidating international assets of the country and steal them," Ricardo Hausmann, a Harvard professor and long-time critic of Maduro who’s been speaking with Guaido, said in an interview Friday. </s> The U.S. officials are trying to steer Venezuela's

Nicolas Maduro's embattled Venezuelan regime, desperate to hold onto the dwindling cash pile it has abroad, was stymied in its bid to pull $1.2 billion worth of gold out of the Bank of England, according to people familiar with the matter.The Bank of England's decision to deny Maduro officials' withdrawal request comes after, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified., the National Assembly leader, as the legitimate president of Venezuela. Maduro, an authoritarian ruler who's overseen the country's collapse into economic chaos, refuses to give up power , though, and has the backing of the military. The European Union threatened to recognize Guaido unless a "credible" presidential election is called with eight days, according to a draft statement seen by Bloomberg.to help bolster his chances of effectively taking control of the government.The whereabouts of the rest of them is largely unknown. Turkey, though, has emerged recently as a destination for freshly mined Venezuelan gold.The U.S. is leading an international effort to persuade Turkey -- a key Maduro backer, along with Russia and China -- to stop being a conduit for these gold shipments.Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Saturday. "I want to state absolutely clearly that if within eight days, fair, free and transparent elections are not called in Venezuela, Spain will recognize Juan Guaido as president."Retrieving the gold in the Bank of England has been a major priority for the Maduro regime for weeks. Back in mid-December, Calixto Ortega, the president of Venezuela's central bank, led a delegation to London that sought to gain access to it, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.But those talks were unsuccessful, and communications between the two sides have broken down since. Central bank officials in Caracas have been ordered to no longer try contacting the Bank of England. These central bankers have been told that, citing compliance reasons, said a Venezuelan official, who asked not to be identified.The Bank of England declined to comment on its handling of Venezuelan assets, saying it "provides banking services - including gold custody services - to a large number of customers" and "does not comment on any of those relationships."When asked about the fate of Venezuelan assets abroad Friday,The Treasury released a statement saying that the U.S. "will use its economic and diplomatic tools to ensure that commercial transactions by the Venezuelan Government, including those involving its state-owned enterprises and international reserves, are consistent with" its recognition of Juan Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela.A press official for Maduro declined to comment.Gold has formed a crucial part of Venezuela's foreign reserves for years.In 2011, Chavez ordered the repatriation of $11 billion worth of gold bars from the Bank of England and other foreign institutions. As Venezuela fell deeper into economic crisis years later, though, the Maduro regime began selling them off to raise the cash it desperately needed to fund imports and to try, unsuccessfully, to avoid defaulting on its foreign debt."The first rule of business as we speak is to stop the Maduro government from liquidating international assets of the country and steal them," Ricardo Hausmann, a Harvard economics professor and long-time critic of Maduro who's been speaking with Guaido, said in an interview Friday. </s> Newly installed World Bank President David Malpass said Thursday that bank shareholders would decide when and how to engage with crisis-stricken Venezuela.

“The bank will be involved as the situation evolves and the bank is preparing for that,” Malpass told reporters during bank’s spring meetings with the International Monetary Fund.

He said Venezuela was of “deep concern” and was facing a “humanitarian crisis.”

“As far as the political side, we will be guided by the international community and the views of our shareholders,” he added.

“This is something that is not chosen by the bank but by the shareholders of the bank.”

Malpass’s views echoed those of the IMF, which said Wednesday it would have no contact with Caracas, and would not allow the country access to its IMF-held reserves, until the international community recognized a government there.

Venezuela’s national assembly leader Juan Guaido in January challenged the legitimacy of embattled leader Nicolas Maduro as the country’s acute economic crisis worsened.

The United States is among about four dozen countries to recognize Guaido.

Malpass took office on Tuesday as the World Bank’s 13th president, having previously served as a top US Treasury official for international affairs.
The International Monetary Fund denies Venezuela access to its money as there is no majority of member states recognizing either Maduro or Guaidó, describing the situation as "political chaos" and asking for debate between its members on the nation.