Venezuela sent gold to Mali, UAE for cash, opposition claims

Maduro’s government got about $1.21bn from the trade despite crippling US sanctions, an opposition figure alleges.

Venezuela sent gold to Mali in 2020 via Russian-owned planes to exchange for euros and United States dollars that President Nicolas Maduro’s government used to remain afloat despite US sanctions, an opposition representative said on Wednesday. Julio Borges, designated by Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as his chief overseas envoy, told reporters that the gold was refined in Mali and then resold primarily in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to allow for Maduro’s administration to obtain the equivalent of at least $1 billion in euros ($1.21bn). The US, which accuses Maduro of rigging his 2018 re-election, imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s state oil company in early 2019 in a bid to pressure Maduro to resign. His socialist government has increasingly turned to the sale of monetary gold as a source of income, with central bank reserves dropping to a 50-year low.