MADRID, (Reuters) – Spanish police will go to Colombia to question nine ex-members of guerrilla group FARC as part of a probe into alleged links between FARC, the Venezuelan government and Basque separatists ETA, a legal source said yesterday. The police hope the ex-members of Colombia’s FARC will help them to identify ETA members from photographs, the source said.
A Spanish judge, Eloy Velasco, has accused the Venezuelan government of facilitating contact between FARC and ETA, triggering a diplomatic incident earlier this year and prompting strong denials from Caracas.
In a related court case that renewed interest in Velasco’s investigation, two suspected ETA members who were arrested in Spain last week and are in custody, have declared to authorities that they received training in France and Venezuela in 2008.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has dismissed the alleged ETA link as part of an international campaign to tarnish his government. His revolutionary government has frequently been at odds with the conservative leadership in neighbouring Colombia.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said on Wednesday he did not believe “any government in the world is harbouring a band of terrorists” but that the government was bound to investigate the alleged connections.
“Of course the declarations by the presumed ETA members are sufficient evidence so that they must be investigated and the Venezuelan government must give us a response,” Zapatero told channel Telecinco in an interview.
Judge Velasco has accused the Venezuelan government of cooperating with ETA and FARC to exchange military expertise and plans for possible attacks in Spain and against former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
