The death toll from Venezuela's twin earthquakes has risen to 3,811, according to figures released by National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez on Wednesday.
The latest figures show that the number of people injured in the 24 June earthquakes in Venezuela has risen to 16,740, while 17,907 people have been left homeless.
Interim President Delcy Rodriguez has renewed calls for international sanctions on Venezuela to be lifted, arguing that the country has overseas assets that could help finance reconstruction if frozen funds were made available.
“Venezuela has resources blocked around the world that could address this process of reconstruction,” Rodriguez said on state television channel VTV, adding that funding was also needed for employment and education programmes.
The U.S., the European Union and other countries have imposed increasingly strict sanctions on Venezuela over the past two decades.
The measures were introduced over concerns about alleged anti-democratic practices by the government and accusations of involvement in drug trafficking.
Many of those measures remain in place. However, after the U.S. captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this year in January, Washington granted targeted relief for the country’s oil sector.
Following the earthquakes, the U.S. authorised four months of transactions related to earthquake relief efforts that would otherwise have been restricted under sanctions.
Rodriguez said she had sent a letter to UK's King Charles requesting the release of Venezuelan gold stored at the Bank of England worth between $1.95 billion to $5 billion according to reported estimates.
"I have decided to send a letter, among others, to the King of England, asking for the gold being held at the Bank of England to be released. That gold belongs to our people, and it must be used to address the terrible, tragic consequences of this double earthquake. Venezuela has the resources to recover and to get back on its feet," she said on Wednesday.
She also said she had discussed the release of funds with the head of the International Monetary Fund.
The Bank of England has refused to release around 31 tonnes of Venezuelan gold held in its vaults. The bullion has been at the centre of a long-running legal dispute in British courts.
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Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed, according to the latest data, as uncertainty over the waterway’s reopening kept most shipowners away. Six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, down from nine the day before and below the 10-day daily average of 11.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. fulfils the terms of an interim deal, including lifting the maritime blockade and sanctions and releasing Iran’s frozen assets.
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