Venezuela's Maduro 'prepared' to talk to Trump

Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro has said he is "prepared" to talk to US counterpart Donald Trump, who earlier claimed he was open to meeting the socialist leader to discuss his exit from power.

"When the time comes I'm prepared to speak respectfully with President Donald Trump," Maduro told the state news agency AVN on Monday.

Trump said he "would maybe think about" meeting Maduro in an interview with Axios published on Sunday, but he changed track in a tweet on Monday.

"My Admin has always stood on the side of FREEDOM and LIBERTY and against the oppressive Maduro regime! I would only meet with Maduro to discuss one thing: a peaceful exit from power!" said Trump.

Maduro made no specific mention of Trump's quotes but said that "in the same way I spoke with (Joe) Biden, I could speak with Trump."

Democratic nominee Biden is running against Trump for president in November's US elections.

Maduro met Biden in 2015 when the latter was vice-president to Barack Obama.

READ MORE: Who is Nicolas Maduro? A profile of Venezuela's embattled president

Washington has been one of the chief allies to Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido but that support has waned as the National Assembly president's challenge to Maduro's authority has lost impetus.

Guaido caused a stir 18 months ago declaring himself acting president after the opposition-controlled parliament decreed Maduro a usurper over his 2018 re-election in a poll widely viewed as rigged.

The US was one of the first of more than 50 countries to recognise his claims and the Trump administration ramped up sanctions on Maduro and his inner circle in an effort to starve him of revenue and force his resignation.

READ MORE: Venezuela says it foiled attack by boat on main port city

After initially drawing huge crowds in anti-Maduro rallies, Guaido's star has dimmed over the last year.

In January he even faced a challenge to his positon as National Assembly leader from an opposition legislator and former ally – an issue that has never been resolved.

Venezuela's rival leaders begin tug-of-war over London gold

Venezuela's rival leaders, President Maduro and his western-backed opponent Guaido, began a legal tug-of-war on Monday over $1 billion of the country's gold stashed deep under the Bank of England in London.

In a High Court hearing due to last four days, the Venezuelan central bank (BCV), controlled by Maduro's government, is seeking an order to force the Bank of England to release the bullion that, like many countries, it stores there for safe keeping.

Lawyers representing the BCV say selling the gold, which amounts to around 15% of Venezuela's foreign currency reserves, would fund the response to the coronavirus and bolster a health system gutted by six years of economic crisis.

Guaido's lawyers meanwhile say the bullion is his to control as the British government, along with around 60 others around the world, recognise him as leader after claims Maduro rigged Venezuela's last presidential election two years ago.

Monday's start of the hearing saw the two legal teams lock horns over who is recognised as the legitimate leader.

BCV representative Nick Vineall QC argued a statement by the UK government in February 2019 that Guaido was interim president had been carefully nuanced and that diplomatic action since then had shown that Maduro was still seen as in charge.

He gave examples of how economic sanctions had referred to Maduro and how Maduro's embassy staff had received correspondence on Queen Elizabeth II's birthday last June.

Guaido's designated representative to the UK, Vanessa Neumann, a former London socialite who once dated Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, had meanwhile been told that while she would be received in London, she would not receive a diplomatic visa, diplomatic immunity or have access to Venezuela's diplomatic properties there.

"As far as western Europe is concerned for the most part... there are full diplomatic relations with the Maduro government," Vineall said.

Andrew Fulton, Guaido's representative in the London case on Monday responded by saying that the UK's statement in February 2019 had been clear.

"Those two words 'now recognise' put that issue beyond doubt," Fulton said. "That is of absolutely critical importance," he added.

The Bank of England has yet to comment on the case.

READ MORE: Another failed coup attempt takes place in Venezuela: who is Juan Guaido?

It holds roughly 400,000 bars of gold worth more than 200 billion pounds ($250 billion) in its vaults under the City of London and is the second largest keeper of gold in the world after the New York Federal Reserve, according to its website.

The dispute over Venezuela's gold began in May 2018 when Maduro secured re-election in a vote the opposition coalition boycotted and called a sham. Afterwards, Boris Johnson, then the British foreign minister, said: "We may have to tighten the economic screw on Venezuela."

Concerned by mount ing US sanctions against the Maduro government, the BCV subsequently told the BOE it wanted to bring home 14 tonnes of gold it had stored there.

Around the year’s end, Calixto Ortega, the BCV president, travelled to London to discuss the move with BOE officials, according to Sarosh Zaiwalla, a London-based lawyer representing the BCV.

In its latest claim, the BCV has changed tack. It says that the funds from a sale would be funnelled into the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and be used to buy medicine and equipment to combat the Covid-19 crisis.

The opposition alleges Maduro wants to use the gold to pay off his foreign allies, which his lawyers deny.

Over the past two years, Maduro’s government has removed some 30 tonnes from its reserves in Venezuela to sell abroad for much-needed hard currency, according to people familiar with the operations and the bank’s own data.