President Maduro sells gold reserves

Ari was removed from government vehicles between Wednesday and Friday last week, when there were no regular security guards at the bank, said legislature Angel Alvarado and three government sources.

“They plan to sell it abroad illegally”, Alvarado said in an interview. The central bank did not respond to requests for comments.

Alvarado and government sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not say where the Central Bank was sending the gold. They said the operation took place while the head of the Calixto Ortega Central Bank was abroad on a trip. In 2018, 23 tons of gold were transported from Venezuela to Istanbul by plane, according to Turkish government sources and data, sends tch.

The central bank purchased part of this gold from the primitive mining camps in southern Venezuela and exported it to Turkey and other countries to finance the purchase of basic food supplies, given widespread shortages, according to more than 30 people with knowledge of trade.

The investment firm Abu Dhabi Noor Capital said on 1 February that he bought 3 tonnes of gold on January 21st from Venezuela's Central Bank and would not buy more until Venezuela's situation stabilises. Noor Capital said that its acquisition was in line with “standards and international laws in power” since that date.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreza said Wednesday during a meeting of the United Nations Organisation in Geneva that the Bank of England had blocked government assets.