The transfer of Venezuelan gold to Europe returned to the international radar after the release of customs data analyzed by the agency Reuters. According to the survey, Venezuela sent around 113 metric tons of gold to Switzerland between 2013 and 2016, a volume valued at approximately 4.14 billion Swiss francs, equivalent to US$5.2 billion, in the first years of Nicolás Maduro’s government.
Records indicate that the metal originated at the Central Bank of Venezuela, in a period marked by the deterioration of the country’s economy and the government’s search for alternative sources of hard currency.
According to the Swiss public broadcaster SRFgold left Venezuela’s official reserves just as Caracas was reducing its stocks to support state financing amid the worsening economic crisis.
Customs data also show an abrupt change in this flow from 2017 onwards. Since then, there have been no records of gold exports from Venezuela to Switzerland, a movement that coincides with the imposition of European Union sanctions against Venezuelan authorities accused of human rights violations and weakening democracy.
Switzerland adopted these sanctions in early 2018, although they did not include a formal embargo on gold imports from the South American country.
The issue gained new political weight this week after Switzerland ordered the freezing of assets held in the country by Nicolás Maduro and 36 allies, a decision announced on Monday (5).
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Swiss authorities, however, did not disclose the value or origin of these resources, and there is no confirmation that they are directly linked to the gold exported years earlier.
Maduro was arrested by US special forces in an operation in Caracas on January 3 and faces charges in a New York court, including drug trafficking and narco-terrorism.
The episode reignited questions about the fate of Venezuelan reserves and the role of gold as an instrument of financial survival for the regime amid international sanctions.
