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| - Britain "unequivocally recognises" Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela's president despite not approving of his government, a London court heard Monday in a case to determine the fate of $1 billion of gold. The highly unusual court action sees the Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV) battling for the release of the gold bullion held in the Bank of England's (BoE) vaults. The BCV is seeking an order that the bullion be released by the BoE to help address the coronavirus emergency in Venezuela. Britain's central bank, however, has questioned who has the authority to make a request for the bullion. It claims to be "caught in the middle" of rival claims to the gold -- from the BCV board backed by Maduro and a separate "ad hoc" board appointed by opposition leader Juan Guaido. Lawyer Nick Vineall, representing BCV, told the High Court of England and Wales, "there is one, and only one, functioning government in Venezuela: the Maduro government". Although London "does not approve of the Maduro government" it recognises his administration, he told the hearing, which was held remotely because of coronavirus restrictions. "It is common for the (UK) government to recognise, or to continue to recognise, foreign governments of which it disapproves." He added that there was "a certain Alice in Wonderland quality to the whole idea of an ad hoc board which has control of overseas assets". Maduro became president of Venezuela following the death of Hugo Chavez in 2013 and was sworn in for a second term last year, despite claims of vote-rigging in the 2018 election, which was boycotted by opposition parties. Last year, Britain's then-foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said London recognised Guaido, the head of Venezuela's National Assembly, as "the constitutional interim president of Venezuela until credible presidential elections can be held". Andrew Fulton, representing the "Guaido board" of the BCV, said the case with the BoE was a battle "for control of valuable Venezuelan assets between two rival presidents". Lawyers for the Maduro board of the BCV said before the hearing the freezing of Venezuela's gold assets was politically motivated to support US foreign policy. "This money is now needed to save lives," he said in a statement. "It will not be used by the Maduro regime and will instead go directly to aid efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the country. "The Bank of England should stop fighting and release this money now, before more lives are lost." The hearing is due to last four days. bur-dmh/phz/rl
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