Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza described as criminal the stance of former opposition deputy Juan Guaidó.  (Photo: Prensa Latina)

Caracas, January 21 (RHC)-- Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has denounced that former opposition deputy Juan Guaidó rejected a proposal by the legitimate government of the South American nation to allocate 120 million dollars, illegally withheld in the United Kingdom, to the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines.

In a message disseminated through the social network Twitter, Arreaza detailed that this maneuver constitutes "another proof of the cruelty of Guaidó and his gang," whom he labeled as "criminals."  Arreaza said that Guaidó's rejection of the proposal made by the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) has its starting point in the "illegal recognition of the United Kingdom" to his "fictitious and non-existent government."

The Venezuelan foreign minister added that the refusal, expressed by the opposition's lawyers, prevents "the Bank of England from releasing the blocked gold of the Venezuelan State" to participate in the Covax program of vaccination against the coronavirus.

Through a press release, the London-based law firm Zaiwalla and Co. confirmed the negative response given by Guaidó's legal team to the BCV's proposal.  "The funds should be used for the benefit of the people of Venezuela and the intransigence of Guaidó's representatives is critically hampering the country's attempts to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic," stated a lawyer and partner at the law firm, Leigh Crestohl.