Venezuela’s central bank made a legal claim to try to force the Bank of England to release $1.03bn in gold to fund Venezuela’s coronavirus response. The government says it has a deal with the UN Development Programme to administer the funds. However the Guaido camp has instructed Bank of England against releasing the gold to the Maduro-appointed central bank authorities. An English court will need to decide which of Venezuela’s dueling political factions to recognize before ruling on President Nicolas Maduro’s request for the Bank of England to hand over gold the country has in its vaults, Reuters reported.