The decision last Friday of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ―the highest civil court of appeal and resources in the nation― to order the regime of Nicolás Maduro to pay the costs of the trial on the 31 tons of monetary gold bullion from Venezuela placed in the vault of the Bank of England, makes it clear that the British government only recognizes Juan Guaidó as legitimate president and consequently the ad hoc administrative board appointed by the BCV and the special attorney appointed based on the Statute that Governs the Transition.
Opposition parties that want to end the interim government should rethink the importance of maintaining the interim government until democracy is restored in Venezuela. Its liquidation would legitimize the de facto government of Maduro. A condition from which it currently suffers before the main democracies of the world.
New world order
At a time when we are torn between authoritarianism and democracy due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, legitimizing the Venezuelan regime would be a gross mistake because it will allow governments that do not respect the rule of law to continue advancing in the world.
On the other hand, if the scenario chosen by the United States, the European Union and the opposition to Maduro to resolve the political crisis in Venezuela is a presidential election in 2024, free, fair and in accordance with international democratic norms, the government is necessary interim. This would force the Maduro regime to agree on an electoral process that would allow it to achieve original legitimacy. The opposite – without an interim – could lead to a presidential election like the one that took place in 2021 in Nicaragua, where Daniel Ortega – or rather his wife – imprisoned the candidates who were another option in those elections.
In addition, in the two years remaining for the presidential election in Venezuela, the result of the Russia-Ukraine war will define the relations of the States with the new world order that is being established.
The division of the world will be between the countries that believe and those that do not believe in an international order based on rules and laws, in respect for the rule of law.
Vladimir Putin has been hell-bent on attacking the heart of this order: borders are not changed by force. He has returned to the field of politics of absolute power, which will generate a division between the States that defend or not an order based on norms and laws. Much more inclusive than the one based on democracies versus autocracies. In this context, the interim would find more allies. And the pressure from the European Union would be aligned with the efforts of the United States for a negotiated solution.
Back to drawing board
The opposition to Maduro must return to drawing board to redesign the strategy and terms of the Transition Statute that allow the interim government to continue enjoying the legitimacy of origin until 2024.
If the narco-tyranny of Venezuela needs anything, it is to end the internship. Maduro knows that it is his Achilles heel. For this reason, the decision of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom generated the reaction of the vice president of the de facto government, Delcy Rodríguez. She assured immediately after the ruling that the United Kingdom “intends to steal the gold of the Venezuelans.” But it is not in the Venezuelans that they think, but in the power of the drug tyranny. In an authoritarian regime there is no separation of powers, so the gold deposited in the English bank would be managed by Maduro and company, and without any type of control it would end up in their bank accounts in Russia, Turkey, Iran or the United Arab Emirates.
Those who wish to end the legitimacy of the interim government favor the international recognition by third parties, voluntary and discretionary, of Maduro as the authority that has the right to manage the assets of the nation.
A fact to take into account
Last Friday’s decision of the United Kingdom Court establishes that the Maduro regime does not have the right to manage the monetary gold – international reserves of the BCV, valued at 1,900 million dollars – in the custody of the Bank of England. And it recognizes the legitimacy of the interim government.
A fact that must be taken into account by the internal factors of the opposition to the dictatorship to continue fighting for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela.
