Contribution
My Lords, I also associate these Benches with the condolences on the terrible incident in Switzerland.
I start by simply quoting from my right honourable friend Ed Davey, speaking in the House of Commons last evening, when he referred to President Reagan and the United States Administration’s invasion of Grenada. He quoted Margaret Thatcher, who said of that incident that
“we in … the Western democracies … use our force to defend our way of life, we do not use it to walk into other people’s countries … We try to extend our beliefs not by force but by persuasion”.
He went on:
“I am disappointed that we have heard nothing as clear and courageous from either the Prime Minister or the Foreign Secretary, or from today’s Conservative Party”.—[Official Report, Commons, 5/1/26; col. 79.]
I agree with him. Why can our Ministers not be clear that we see what happened in Venezuela as something contrary to international law, which sets dangerous precedents and might likely perpetuate human rights abuses in that country?
We all know that the Maduro regime was brutal, repressive, dictatorial and corrupt, and that the actions of that regime led nearly 9 million Venezuelans to flee the country. They must be in a state of confusion as to whether the country will be safe for them to return to if it is now being administered, as President Trump has said, by the United States.
Today, the regime in Venezuela continues to abuse powers even more, with paramilitary forces repressing journalists and seeking out democracy activists for persecution. Apparently, this is under the authority of the United States Government themselves, if we believe what President Trump and the Secretary of State said on Sunday.
In response to Ed Davey, the Foreign Secretary said,
“the most important thing now for Venezuela is for it to have a transition to democracy”.
I agree with her, but she went on to say:
“I have spoken directly to the US Secretary of State about that and also about the potential role the UK can play”.—[Official Report, Commons, 5/1/26; col. 80.]
She did not elucidate further. Can the Minister state in what way the United Kingdom will play a role in a democratic transition in Venezuela, especially in the context that President Trump has undermined the Nobel Prize winner María Machado, a member of our sister party, a liberal in Venezuela, who now is also in a state of confusion as to what the intentions of the US Administration are?
The Prime Minister had said after the news of the attack on Venezuela that he wanted to gain the facts before speaking to President Trump. What other facts do we now need for the Prime Minister to state categorically to President Trump that this action is contrary to international law? Can the Minister restate whether one of the founding principles of the special relationship of the UK and the United States—that we are consulted and informed on US security actions when they are connected with UK interests—still applies? Given our diplomatic location in Caracas, which was bombed, were we informed? Were our diplomats informed that they were operating in an area of risk? Are we informed if UK bases and personnel are being used for monitoring Venezuelan shipping? Is our airspace potentially being used and overflown by US assets for the ongoing operations of the US Administration in that area? Are our close Commonwealth partner assets in the Caribbean being overflown and are we being informed?
Finally, President Trump’s statements regarding Greenland, which are causing significant concern, are wholly unacceptable. Can we now say categorically that we condemn the US economic and diplomatic coercion of a key European and NATO ally? The noble Lord, Lord Callanan, indicated that precedents may be set but gave a slight indication that they support them. We do not support these precedents. We support the international rule of law. We support our allies. We support democracy and human rights in Venezuela. We support our sister party and the democratically elected president, not to be a vassal state but a vibrant, democratic state, with human rights at its core.