The Empire is Everywhere: Maduro’s Bid to Fly Gold Out of Venezuela Is Blocked

The Nicolas Maduro regime has halted plans to ship 20 tons of Venezuelan gold overseas as a growing US-led international push to ring-fence the country’s dwindling hard assets unnerved those handling the transaction, reports Bloomberg.

The gold bars, which are worth about $850 million, had been weighed and separated in the central bank vaults for transportation, but will not be sent out anytime soon, a source told Bloomberg.


 Some staffers, fearful of getting ensnared in U.S. sanctions and worn down by the crippling economic collapse, have begun to disregard orders, prompting senior management to oust them.

The blocking of the 20-ton shipment comes just a week after the Bank of England denied Maduro officials’ request to withdraw $1.2 billion of gold stored there.

“The English stole the gold in the Bank of England,” Diosdado Cabello, the powerful No. 2 in Maduro’s party, said in a speech broadcast on state television this week. “The imperialist bosses should know that we will never give up.”

A cargo plane operated by E-Cargo, a Moscow-based company, landed at Caracas international airport on Jan. 30, fueling speculation it was the plane that would transport the gold.

It flew out of Caracas Friday afternoon, apparently without cargo.

-RW