UK Citizens in Venezuela

Lord Alton of Liverpool Excerpts

Thursday 4th December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I am not here to second-guess legal advice or the situation in regard to any specific incident in the Caribbean. What the US does with regard to Venezuela and its position on its activities in the Caribbean are clearly a matter for the US.

[Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)]

My Lords, can the Minister confirm that the 51 Venezuelans who are on our sanctions list for their role in undermining democracy and human rights remain sanctioned? Will she say whether we are considering imposing sanctions on those who have been involved in the cartels in the illegal smuggling of drugs—many of them lethal—not just into the United States but into Europe and this country too?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

The noble Lord knows that I am not going to talk about sanctions or whether we are about to lift or impose them, but it is absolutely true that Europe is one of the biggest markets for narcotics coming out of Latin America and central America specifically. The demand for narcotics in this country is causing misery, despair and the death of children, among others, in that part of the world.