Published at: 19/08/2026 09:00 PM

CHÁVEZ ORDERS REPATRIATION OF VENEZUELAN GOLD

(Diario Vea, August 18, 2011; El Nacional, February 21, 1989; and Alba Ciudad, January 31, 2012)

• On August 17, 2011, at the close of his historic presidential speech on the Draft Organic Law for the Exploitation of Gold before the National Assembly (AN), Commander Hugo Chávez Frías announced the repatriation of 160 tons of our gold reserves that were gradually handed over, in 1989, to the Bank of England by Carlos Andrés Pérez (CAP), on the occasion of the neoliberal economic shock policies applied against the Venezuelan people.
• The measure, which in turn led to the beginning of the exploration of 117,834 square kilometers of mines still lying in the Guiana subsoil (approximately the same area as England), emerged as a result of the great housing crisis in the United States that shook the foundations of the world economy between 2008 and 2010, caused by junk loans or junk mortgages (sub-prime mortgages).
• Considering that gold and silver, for more than 4,000 years, were the universal bases for guaranteeing commercial exchanges and the stability of economies, in addition to the fact that Venezuela owns the largest reserves in Latin America estimated at 9,000 metric tons of gold, Chávez took appropriate measures in this regard.
• Likewise, in the same speech, he declared the nationalization of the exploitation of the wealth lying in the subsoil with the purpose of increasing our international reserves, supporting the strength of our monetary sign, combating smuggling and preventing the environmental depredation of the Orinoco Mining Arc.
• During the event, Commander Chávez referred to gold as a safe haven in times of economic turmoil and exhibited several gold ingots stored in the vaults of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), stating that the measure would serve to increase production, strengthen our reserves and shield us from the volatility of financial crises as well as the cyclical catastrophes of capitalism.

• By the date this momentous return was ordered, 154 tons of gold were deposited in the BCV. As a result, the volume of our reserves was increased to 256 tons.
• On January 31, 2012, as a result of that memorable measure, the 160 tons of gold that President Chávez managed to rescue from the jaws of the Bank of England arrived in Venezuela.
• 19 years had passed since Carlos Andrés Pérez ordered, in February 1989, the shipment of our gold reserves to the vaults of the Bank of England, to meet the demands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), during the implementation of “The Package”.
• Just six days after “El Caracazo”, the 211 tons were stolen to the United Kingdom. In the midst of the protests, to prevent this governmental looting of our reserves, several riots occurred in Caracas, in the midst of which university student Carlos Yépez, who worked as a janitor in the laboratory of the Institute of Medicine and was a member of the UCV athletics team, was shot down by the Metropolitan Police (PM) .

Mazo News Team