A United States air strike has killed a senior leader of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, with the British government expressing support for the targeted action. The operation, carried out in a remote region of Venezuela, marks a significant escalation in the international fight against organised crime. The gang, known for its involvement in drug trafficking, extortion and human smuggling, has been a source of regional instability.
Whitehall sources confirmed that UK intelligence had been shared with US counterparts, though British forces were not directly involved. The Prime Minister’s office issued a statement calling the strike a “necessary and proportionate response” to a threat that has reached into British communities. But questions are already being asked: who pays for these operations, and who counts the cost when the price of security falls on ordinary workers?
In the North, where I began my reporting years ago, the talk is not of gang leaders but of the bills piling up on kitchen tables. The cost of living crisis has squeezed families hard. A military strike in South America might make headlines, but it does little to lower the price of a loaf of bread in Bolton.
The union leaders I speak to worry that such foreign adventures distract from the domestic battles that need fighting: fair wages, secure jobs, and the dignity of a pension. The government insists that stopping the flow of illegal guns and drugs is part of protecting the British high street. Yet the connection between a bombing in Venezuela and a safer street in Manchester remains intangible for many.
The Chancellor will need to explain why billions are spent on missiles when schools are crumbling and nurses are striking for a pay rise. This is not to downplay the seriousness of organised crime. I have seen its scars in the hollowed-out town centres of the North East.
But the answer is rarely found in a bomb. It is found in community policing, in opportunities for young people, and in a welfare state that doesn’t force the vulnerable into the arms of gangsters. The British endorsement of the strike should not become a blank cheque for endless intervention.
Workers here need to know that their interests are as important as the geopolitical chessboard. Yes, hit the traffickers. But hit the poverty that feeds them too.
