On 3rd January the United States abducted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores and targeted the country with air strikes, using over 150 aircrafts, including F-22 Raptors and F-35 Lightning IIs, killing more than 100 people and injuring around 100.
Maduro faces four criminal charges in the U.S., including narco-terrorism, and Maduro’s vice president has been sworn in as interim president.
Around two dozen Venezuelan officers were killed in the attack, according to the South American government. Cuba’s government said on Sunday that 32 of its military and police officers working in Venezuela were also killed.
CAAT condemns the United States violation of international law and Article 2 of the UN Charter, which affirms that Members must not threaten or use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.
As blatantly articulated by Trump, this attack was conducted with the aim of securing US control over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. While shocking and unprecedented this attack falls squarely into the Trump regime’s expansionist, capitalist, colonial political ideology. The attack comes as the US has been escalating aggression against Venezuela for the past few months with increased threats and attacks – bombing boats, seizing oil tankers and placing a $50 million bounty on Maduro.
This is the same regime that has threatened to forcibly annex Greenland. This is the same regime that sees Israel’s genocide in Gaza, co-perpetrated by the US, as a real estate opportunity while Gazans lie dead beneath the rubble.
The F-35 fighter jet, a critical component of the military equipment used by Israel to perpetrate genocide in Gaza, was also used by the US in the last week’s attack on Venezuela. 15% by value of every F-35 aircraft produced is made in the UK.
Along with the F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lightning II fighter jets reportedly played a central role in the attack and abduction of Maduro, according to reports, including both F-35A and F-35B variations. Reports on the US attack in Venezuela stated: “The F-35 Lightning II complemented this role by conducting precision strikes, electronic warfare tasks, and intelligence gathering.”
Key components and subsystems made in the UK include:
- The rear fuselage is produced by BAE Systems in Samlesbury, Lancashire
- The active interceptor system is produced by BAE Systems in Rochester, Kent
- The targeting lasers for the F-35’s electro-optic targeting system, produced by Leonardo in Edinburgh
- The bomb release cables for the F-35, made by L3Harris in Brighton
Rolls-Royce, with offices and manufacturing sites across the UK, and Mission Systems Wimborne also produce significant subsystems for some versions of the F-35. Rolls-Royce produces the “active lift system” for the F-35B, while Mission Systems Wimborne produces the air-to-air refuelling pods used by the F-35B and F-35C.
F-35 exception
Despite reaching the legal threshold requiring the UK to suspend the transfer of F-35 parts to Israel, the government claims that it is not possible to stop UK components for the jet
going to Israel via other partner countries without disrupting the entire global supply chain for the F-35. It argues that stopping these spare parts would cause a disruption that would have a “profound impact on international peace and security”.
It is clear that the US interpretation of “international peace and security” as referenced by the UK government is characterised by an annihilation of international law and rules based order, and total disregard for the right of peoples to self-determination. American and British foreign policy, alongside British and American arms industries, are closely aligned. Read more about this here: CAAT – The United States: The UK’s second biggest arms customer.
Starmer has failed to condemn the attack, or even identify that the US has breached international law. Furthermore, the UK has long supported US efforts to destabilise and control Venezuela.
Since 2019, the UK has frozen over $2 billion of Venezuelan gold in the Bank of England, as well as supporting US sanctions on the country which have led to over 100,000 excess deaths. Although often framed as a less deadly option to warfare, globally sanctions kill over 500 000 people, most of them children under the age of five, every year. After freezing Venezuela’s gold, the UK government set up a secretive “Venezuela Reconstruction Unit [VRU]” in the Foreign Office in Autumn 2019, reportedly tasked with making plans for after Maduro’s overthrow.
This isn’t only about the USA wanting control over Venezuelan oil – the UK also has an interest in it. Documents obtained by Declassified UK show that several years ago British diplomat John Saville held meetings in Caracas about plans for British involvement in the Venezuelan energy sector.
As the world moves rapidly towards climate collapse, the US attack on Venezuela demonstrates just how closely military aggression is linked to climate catastrophe. Climate change is one of the biggest threats facing the world, and real security necessitates taking action towards a global transition away from fossil fuels.
We call on the UK to:
- Leave the F-35 programme, including immediately half the export of parts to the US and Israel;
- Condemn the US’s illegal military attack on Venezuela and abduction of its President and first lady, and its continuing attempts to coerce Venezuela through military threats with the goal of gaining control of its oil reserves;
- Open an investigation into the UK’s complicity in breaches of international law as an F-35 programme partner.
Notes
- The F-35 is an advanced ‘5th generation’ stealth fighter aircraft produced primarily by Lockheed Martin in the US. It is the most expensive military programme in history. While the US is the lead producer, many other countries are involved in producing parts for the F-35, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, and the UK.
- Around 20 countries use the F-35, including all the above. Of all the countries involved in the F-35 outside the US, the UK is by far the most important, and is the only “Level 1 partner”.
