U.S. Blocks Spanish Sale to Venezuela

October 22, 2005: The United States has blocked a Spanish aircraft company from selling C-295 aircraft to Venezuela. The U.S. can do this because when foreign aircraft makers use certain, militarily significant, American components, they must get U.S. permission to export those components (as part of something built locally). In this case, the C-295 has an American radar system the State Department has decided Venezuela should not have. Such ?export control? agreements are becoming more and more common. Earlier this year, Russia blocked the export (to Pakistan) of a fighter that used a Russian engine. The U.S. has also gone after Israel for exporting weapons systems, that contain American technology, to China. As a result of this, the U.S. was also able to block an Israeli deal to install new Israeli electronics in Venezuela's F-16 jet fighters.