Secret deliveries of gold reserves to Ugandan refinery shed light on global underground economy that many suspect will help Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro cling to power. During a secret operation, a party transited through East Africa, a ploy designed to escape the US sanctions.

At least 7.4 tons of gold valued at more than $300 million worth of goods were shipped from Venezuela to a Ugandan refinery in two flights in early March, according to officials in Venezuela and Uganda. A foreign diplomat and Venezuelan opposition parliamentarians concluded that the Maduro government had exported the bullion.

This is not for the first time Maduro’s regime is selling off the country’s gold reserves to other countries. In February 2019, the central bank sold over 73.3 tons of gold, worth $3 billion, to companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Turkey.

The precious yellow metal arrived at Entebbe International Airport on a Russian charter during two expeditions, said Fred Enanga, spokesman for the Ugandan National Police. The accompanying documents identified the bullion — some of which had partially scraped stamps — as being owned by the Venezuelan central bank, says a senior Ugandan police officer who saw the bullion and documents. Flight records show that the trips originated in Caracas, Venezuela.

These expeditions reveal a connection to a global underground economy that many suspect will help Maduro cling to power by bypassing the US-dominated international financial system. Washington has recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate president, imposed sanctions, including financial sanctions, on Venezuelan officials and institutions, and threatened sanctions against those who did business with the regime.

The duel between the two leaders echoed beyond Venezuela, with some fifty countries having joined the United States to support Guaido while others have sided with Maduro. What used to be Latin America’s richest economy is becoming hungry, oil sales have fallen, and citizens are suffering from days-long power outages and product shortages.

Gold sales, according to representatives of the United States and other countries, constitute one of the last financial lifelines of the government.

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