A British minister on Monday suggested that the Bank of England should decline to release £1 billion of gold to Venezuela's dictator after the opposition leader wrote to Theresa May. Juan Guaido, who last week declared himself the country’s legitimate ruler and was recognised as such by the US, has written to Mark Carney, the Bank’s governor, to ask him not to hand over the gold to Nicolas Maduro. He also sent the letter to Theresa May, the Prime Minister. "I am writing to ask you to stop this illegitimate transaction," the 35-year-old opposition leader wrote. "If the money is transferred it will be used by the illegitimate and kleptocratic regime of Nicolas Maduro to repress and brutalise the Venezuelan people." Sir Alan Duncan, minister of the Americas, on Monday said it was a decision for the Bank to make, and suggested they should decline to release the gold. "The Bank of England holds a significant amount of Venezuela's gold. This is a decision for the Bank of England, not the government," he said. "No doubt they will take into account when they do the fact that a large number of countries across the world are now questioning the legitimacy of Nicolas Maduro and recognising that of Juan Guaido." Nicolas Maduro inspecting the troops on Sunday - his military has, so far, largely remained loyal Mr Maduro has been attempting to repatriate the gold from the vaults since last year. The bullion in London makes up 15 per cent of Venezuela's foreign currency reserves. The Telegraph understands that each request for a release of gold made to the Bank of England is subject to fresh risk assessment procedures. The Caracas Chronicles, a Venezuelan publication, claims the Bank has twice refused gold transactions requests from the regime citing “compliance-related reasons”. A Bank of England spokesman said: “The Bank of England provides banking services – including gold custody services – to a large number of customers. The Bank does not comment on any of those relationships, which are subject to customer confidentiality. In all its operations, the Bank observes the highest standards of risk management and abides by all relevant legislation, including applicable financial sanctions.” The request from Mr Guaido came hours before the US imposed sanctions on oil exported from the country, and adds to mounting diplomatic and economic pressure on Mr Maduro to stand down. Steve Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, said on Monday afternoon that the oil was a “valuable asset that we are protecting for the Venezuelan people.” From now on oil revenues must now be placed in “blocked accounts”, which cannot be accessed by Mr Maduro. Mr Mnuchin said that there would also be limitations on the selling of oil products, but stopped short of announcing a total embargo on oil sales. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world. “Effective immediately, any purchases of Venezuelan oil by US entities, money will have to go to blocked accounts,” he said, adding the US would continue to buy Venezuelan oil, but only if the money from the sale went into blocked accounts. “The purpose of sanctions is to change behaviour. When there is the recognition that PDVSA is the property of the rightful ruler of Venezuela, Juan Guaido, then it will go to him. “There is no reason for the poverty, the starvation, the humanitarian crisis.” John Bolton, the national security adviser, added: “The authoritarian regime of Chavez and Maduro has allowed the penetration of adversaries, not least Cuba. We think that is a strategic threat to the United States, and there are others – not least Iran. “It is our mission to make reality what the people of Venezuela want.” Directives sent on Friday to the US Federal Reserve will make it very hard for Mr Maduro to access Venezuela's overseas assets and earnings, including those from Houston-based Citgo, a subsidiary of state-owned oil giant PDVSA and the major source of revenue for the bankrupt government. Oil constitutes close to 90 per cent of Venezuelan exports. Some 75 per cent of the country’s cash-generating oil shipments go the US, according to Barclays, but Mr Maduro retains the support of Russia, China, Turkey and Iran and is likely to divert shipments to them. Venezuela collapse | Mothers and children pay the price However, processing international financial transactions will be a challenge, without going through the US or European banks. Transport costs would also jump because Venezuela's ports are not well-equipped to load supertankers for transporting oil to such distant markets. Mr Maduro has had the door slammed in his face by Canada, Australia, Israel and a host of Latin nations, including Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil, who have all followed the US lead and recognised Mr Guadio. Several EU countries have further said that Mr Maduro has eight days to call elections and end the stand-off, or else they will back Mr Guaido. Britain is yet to formally recognise Mr Guaido, but last week Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, said Mr Guaido was “the right person to take Venezuela forward”. Sir Alan also hit out at Labour MPs who wrote a joint letter to The Guardian, criticising the "far-Right" governments of the US and Brazil, and saying they offer "no hope" to Venezuela. The letter, signed by shadow chancellor John McDonnell and shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, alongside other Labour MPs, individuals and campaigners, insisted there is "no justification for backing the US attempt at regime change under way" and backed the call for dialogue from the Mexican and Bolivian presidents. Jorge Arreaza, Venezuela’s foreign minister, on Monday backed the talks suggested last week by Mexico and Bolivia, saying: “We’re even willing to meet with the devil so that we have sovereignty and peace.” Jorge Arreaza, Venezuela's foreign minister But Sir Alan told the Commons he had little time for the Labour-led suggestion. "I think we should all be saddened that in our midst are people who seem to have still sympathy for the regime of Nicolas Maduro despite what it has done to poor people, it has not just made them poorer, it has made them destitute and in many cases has forced them to flee,” he said. "So let the signatories of that letter in the Guardian be pinned on every wall as a list of signatures of shame." Rafael Uzcategui, director of the Venezuelan Program for Education-Action in Human Rights, said that eight people were murdered last week by the government in "extra-judicial killings," while another 35 died in the recent protests, which began a week ago. Mr Guadio has called for more demonstrations this week. Speaking at a press conference, Mr Uzcategui said the extra-judicial executions happened in operations conducted by the police special forces unit, FAES, in socially deprived areas.
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