Saturday, February 2, 2019

The Strange Case of The Venezuelan Gold

Venezuela is making a lot of news lately and of course has been going through a lot of unrest and turmoil for some time. Now nations are lining up for and against support for the existing leader with the US now recognizing a new leadership.


Meanwhile, a string of odd articles has popped up lately related to what is going on with some gold owned by Venezuela. I am not really sure what is happening, but clearly their gold is important to a lot of powerful interests. Below are links to just some of the articles that may be of interest on the subject.

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RT - Refusal to hand over Venezuelan gold means end of Britain as a fianancial center

"The freezing of Venezuelan gold by the Bank of England is a signal to all countries out of step with US interests to withdraw their money, according to economist and co-founder of Democracy at Work, Professor Richard Wolff. He told RT America that Britain and its central bank have shown themselves to be “under the thumb of the United States.”  . . .   click here for full article


Reuters - Don't Deal in Venezuelan Gold White House Says

"The White House warned traders on Wednesday not to deal in Venezuelan gold or oil following its imposition of stiff sanctions aimed at forcing socialist President Nicolas Maduro from power." . . .  click here for full article



Bloomberg - In Maduro's Venezuela, Even Counting Gold Bars is a Challenge

"Venezuela is home to rich gold deposits and holds billions of dollars of foreign reserves in gold bars in the central bank’s vaults. The question is, how much is there?" . . .   click here for full article


Reuters - Venezuela Plans to Fly Central Bank gold reserves to UAE

"Venezuela will sell 15 tonnes of gold from central bank vaults to the United Arab Emirates in coming days in return for euros in cash, a senior official with knowledge of the plan said, as the crisis-stricken country seeks to stay solvent." . . .  click here for full article



Bloomberg - Maduro's 20 Ton pile of gold is stuck in Limbo

"With 20 tons of gold stacked up for loading and shipping out of Venezuelan vaults, the mystery surrounding them -- and the saber-rattling they’re sparking -- is intensifying." . . . 
click here for full article



Bloomberg - Maduro's Bid to Fly Gold out of Venezuela is Blocked

"The embattled Nicolas Maduro regime halted plans to ship 20 tons of Venezuelan gold overseas as a growing international push to ring-fence the country’s dwindling hard assets unnerved those handling the transaction, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter." . . . .  click here for full article

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My added comments: With the world becoming potentially more volatile (sanctions, trade wars, central bank tightening, ramped up political division, etc), it appears that gold once again is gaining some favor as insurance around the world, and not just with individuals. This CNBC news article confirms that central banks are buying gold at the highest level in a half century. Russia and China have been doing that for some time. Looking for ways to get around the US dollar and US sanctions undoubtedly are contributing to this trend.  

Today I listened in on a new webinar update from Kinesis which still plans to launch its gold and silver backed currency in May 2019. There are more and more new ways being made available to people to buy and sell gold and silver more easily over the internet in real time. Goldmoney and OneGold are other examples already live now. This will be something to keep an eye on in 2019-2020 -- to see if gold and silver start a new up leg and to understand why they are doing so if that does happen. 

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