Diego Garcia Island Base:
Gangsters with Imperialist Confetti

Mar 16, 2026

This article is translated from the March 6 issue, #3005 of Lutte Ouvrière (Workers Struggle), the paper of the Trotskyist group of that name active in France.

Donald Trump is not happy with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “He has not been helpful. I never thought I’d see that,” he said, adding that Starmer “should have helped.”

One of Trump’s grievances against the U.S.’s typically staunch ally, England, has to do with an airbase on the island of Diego Garcia. Allegedly, Starmer delayed on authorizing the flight of American bombers from the base to attack Iran.

Diego Garcia is part of the Chagos Islands, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean that the British empire separated from Mauritius when granting Mauritius independence in 1968. All Chagossians were then deported without due process. London ceded the island to the U.S. to build the strategic base. In addition to a deep-water port and communications and surveillance facilities, the U.S. stations bombers on Diego Garcia that were used during the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and presumably now Iran.

But in recent years the International Court of Justice and the United Nations General Assembly have condemned England for this colonial-era control. England signed an agreement in October 2024 to let the Chagos Islands revert to Mauritius, but with England and the U.S. retaining control of Diego Garcia for 99 years. They would pay Mauritius around 140 million dollars rent a year. It’s a drop in the ocean compared to their military spending! Trump approved the plan but now criticizes it, even though it doesn’t harm the U.S. one bit. But we know that the White House and Mar-a-Lago occupant likes to play games.

For now, imperialist bombers can continue to use the base. It’s very convenient for the two gangsters. Surely, they’ll soon make a deal.