Venezuela gold: Plasencia to head to London to press claim

Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, ordered the Foreign Ministry and the Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, to start work on recovering the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) gold held at the Bank of England — and the next day said Félix Plasencia, until then foreign minister, will settle in the United Kingdom “until we recover the gold.” It is about 31 metric tons, worth roughly $4.04 billion at today’s price. As far as we could read, London has not publicly responded to either announcement.

What is known

• Oct. 28, the order. At a meeting of the Council of Vice Presidents and Ministers, Rodríguez said (in Spanish): “I will not stop demanding that the Bank of England return our gold. Enough excuses. There was an agreement,” according to EFE. Infobae adds: “Enough of the theft of our resources, of the theft of our gold” (in Spanish). The remarks were made on state broadcaster VTV, per Infobae.
• Who got the order. EFE, Infobae and The Rio Times say the Foreign Ministry and the Procuraduría General (the government’s legal office); Euronews writes “Fiscalía” (the prosecutor’s office). We follow EFE: Procuraduría.
• Oct. 29, the reshuffle. Rodríguez named Oliver Blanco foreign minister, per teleSUR, saying (in Spanish): “I have decided to appoint Oliver Blanco as foreign minister of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.” Blanco had been deputy minister for Europe and North America since February and first deputy minister since July, according to El Diario.
• What Plasencia does now. He leaves the Foreign Ministry to run International Affairs at the Presidency. His first task, Rodríguez said, is to “settle in the United Kingdom until we recover the gold” (in Spanish), as quoted by teleSUR. El Diario also quotes her: “He will be there on the essential tasks, strategies our country requires” (in Spanish). Plasencia was Venezuela’s diplomatic representative in the U.K., per El Diario.
• Where the order comes from. EFE ties it to the Oct. 21 dialogue agreement that created a joint commission of the government and the 2015 National Assembly to pursue the gold with British institutions. We covered it in Venezuela’s gold at the Bank of England.
• Before that: in July, Rodríguez wrote to King Charles III asking for the gold to be released for the emergency after the June 24 earthquakes, according to EFE.

What it is worth

• EFE puts it at about $2 billion; Euronews notes it was estimated at about $1.9 billion in 2023, without naming a source; The Rio Times says court papers valued it at about $1.95 billion (in 2021). Those are valuations from other times.
• At today’s price ($4,051.40 an ounce at 16:02 UTC on Nov. 4, 2026, per gold-api.com): about $4.04 billion for 31 tons and about $4.17 billion for 32. That’s our calculation, at 32,150.7 troy ounces per metric ton.
• The 31 tons is the figure Infobae cites and the one we used in our earlier story; no official breakdown of what sits in London has been published. The Rio Times notes Caracas says 31 tons and that the weight has no official confirmation.
• It isn’t new gold: it is already counted in the reserves the BCV reports. Getting it back wouldn’t give Venezuela more gold; it would let the country use it. Details in Venezuela gold reserves.

What is not known

• Whether Britain or the Bank of England will release it, and when. Neither EFE, Infobae nor Euronews reports a response from London. The Rio Times says no delivery date or timetable has been published for the Foreign Ministry’s and Procuraduría’s work, and that the British government says it is not a party to the case. In September the Bank of England told Reuters it cannot act until a U.K. court rules on who has legal authority over the account, per TheStreet, as cited in our earlier story.
• Whether the British court case is still active, per The Rio Times.
• When Plasencia travels and whom he will meet in London: Rodríguez spoke of “settling in,” but we found no date or schedule.
• A written text of the order. None of this is a decree: neither Infobae nor El Diario mentions the Gaceta Oficial or a written statement from the Foreign Ministry or the Procuraduría. The quotes come from the VTV broadcast and a post by Rodríguez on X, per teleSUR.
• What happens with U.S. sanctions. The Rio Times notes OFAC General License 57 (April 14, 2026) allows financial services with the BCV but does not authorize unblocking property. We did not read the license for this story.

Why it matters

The London gold is close to two-thirds of the gold in the BCV’s reserves, frozen since 2019 (see our reserves page). Until now the claim rested on a dialogue-table agreement and a six-member panel; this week the acting president takes it on directly, with an envoy in London and a new foreign minister. That’s a political signal. It does not by itself change what a British court decides.

Next on the calendar is the following round of talks between the government and the 2015 Assembly, due to start between Nov. 11 and 15, according to Europa Press.

For Americans, the practical angle is the price of the metal itself: today’s gold price by karat is at gold price per gram, and how U.S. buyers get exposure, and what each option costs, at how to invest in gold. Where Venezuela’s gold is mined and who mines it: Venezuela gold, and the rest of its minerals in Venezuela Minerals: List, Locations and the Most Valuable.