{"text":[[{"start":14.42,"text":"The Venezuelan government and the country’s opposition are close to reaching an agreement to transfer the central bank’s gold reserves, worth about $4bn, from the Bank of England to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York."}],[{"start":26.4,"text":"Under the terms of the deal being discussed, the interim government of Delcy Rodríguez would gain legal control over the gold but would not be allowed to immediately sell the holdings, according to four people familiar with the discussions."}],[{"start":38.64,"text":"Instead, the gold could potentially be used as collateral for borrowing by the government to fund spending, including for reconstruction from June’s devastating double earthquake, three of the people said."}],[{"start":50.12,"text":"The potential gold agreement is one of the first concrete results from a US-backed negotiation process between the interim government and the opposition."}],[{"start":58.24,"text":"If the deal is finalised, it would bring to an end a seven-year-long dispute over the gold that began in 2019, when the US, UK and some other governments recognised opposition politician Juan Guaidó, then head of the National Assembly, as the country’s legitimate president."}],[{"start":74.16,"text":"Since then, the opposition has claimed control over the bullion bars that the Venezuelan central bank had stored in the vaults at the Bank of England. The legal dispute at one stage reached the UK Supreme Court."}],[{"start":85.16,"text":"The agreement is not yet finalised and the process of ironing out technical details could take some time, the people said."}],[{"start":91.4,"text":"A deal on the central bank gold would be the latest step in international re-engagement with Venezuela, following the January raid by the US that seized the then-president Nicolás Maduro. The US then lifted some of its sanctions on the Venezuelan economy."}],[{"start":105.76,"text":"In April, the IMF resumed official dealings with Venezuela after a seven-year hiatus, which has allowed the government in Caracas to access funds held at the institution."}],[{"start":115.08,"text":"Rodríguez, the vice-president who was installed as interim leader in January, has been casting around for ways to revive the economy, which even before the earthquake was growing more slowly than had been expected."}],[{"start":125.92,"text":"The US-backed negotiation process is designed to create the conditions for new elections in Venezuela. In the last election in 2024, Maduro declared himself victor, even though the opposition’s independently verified vote tally showed he lost by a wide margin."}],[{"start":141.44,"text":"A delegation of opposition politicians is in Caracas this week for discussions with a government delegation, led by Jorge Rodríguez, the current head of the National Assembly."}],[{"start":152.32,"text":"The government and opposition announced last month they were working together to unblock access to the 31 tonnes of gold that are stored in the vaults of the Bank of England."}],[{"start":161.88,"text":"But the opposition, which accuses the socialist government of decades of corruption and economic mismanagement, has insisted on controls to prevent the bullion reserves from being misused."}],[{"start":171.82,"text":"“The gold is going to the US but Delcy won’t have direct access to it,” said an opposition figure involved in the talks. “It will be supervised and restricted.”"}],[{"start":182.44,"text":"The negotiations over the gold are taking place as the UK and Venezuela agreed this week to upgrade diplomatic relations. The UK government, which will now restore an ambassador to Caracas, said it welcomed the talks on new elections."}],[{"start":196.56,"text":"Jorge Rodríguez visited London earlier this week for discussions with the UK government and said on social media after a meeting in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office that there would be “good news” for the Venezuelan people."}],[{"start":209.04,"text":"Any agreement to send the gold to the US would likely be welcomed by the UK government and the Bank of England, which have been caught up for several years in the legal dispute."}],[{"start":218.12,"text":"A spokesperson for the BoE said: “The Bank is not in a position to act on instructions until there is a further order from the UK Court which makes clear who has legal authority over the account. This requires the parties involved in the case to approach the UK Court to settle the dispute.”"}],[{"start":234.24,"text":"The Foreign Office declined to comment. The Venezuelan government and the opposition also declined to comment."}],[{"start":240.12,"text":"Additional reporting by Lucy Fisher and Sam Fleming"}],[{"start":249.12,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1789715249_9277.mp3"}