Worth approximately £3.5 billion at current prices, this gold has been frozen since 2019, when the British government followed the US’s failed attempt at a coup in Venezuela by recognising Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s president. More than 14,000 people have now signed a petition demanding Britain return the gold. McDonnell called returning the gold “one of the most effective measures the UK government could undertake” to help Venezuela. Abbott said Britain “continues to illegally withhold the country’s gold reserves when all its resources are urgently needed”. Instead, it sits there while Venezuela grapples with both the earthquake and decades of cruel sanctions.