Venezuela’s gold has been stolen. Not in the traditional sense, such as a cat burglar sneaking into the vault and pocketing a bar or two. No, instead Venezuela’s socialist government has stolen the country’s national treasure to fund its illegitimate rule.
Using Russian jets, and African middle men, Venezuela’s socialist rulers have sold 7.4 tons of the people’s gold. The Wall Street Journal’s Gabriele Steinhauser and Nicholas Bariyo report:
ENTEBBE, Uganda—The government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is selling off his country’s gold reserves. Some of it has passed through a secretive operation in East Africa, a gambit that evades U.S. sanctions.
On two early-March flights, at least 7.4 tons of gold with a market value over $300 million moved from Venezuela to a refinery in Uganda, say officials in Venezuela and Uganda, a foreign diplomat and Venezuelan opposition lawmakers, who have concluded Mr. Maduro’s government exported the ingots.
The gold arrived on a Russian charter jetliner in two shipments at the international airport in Entebbe, says Ugandan national-police spokesman Fred Enanga. The accompanying paperwork identified the ingots, some with stamped labels partially scratched off, as Venezuelan central-bank property, says a senior Ugandan police officer who saw the bars and documents. Flight records show the trips originated in Caracas, Venezuela.
The shipments expose one link in a global underground economy many suspect is helping Mr. Maduro cling to power by bypassing the U.S.-dominated international finance system. Washington has recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate president, slapped financial and other sanctions on Venezuelan officials and institutions,and threatened penalties for others doing business with the regime.
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