Diego Arria, a former minister of Information and Tourism and former Venezuelan Ambassador to the United Nations, said on Monday in Madrid that in addition to Arturo Cubillas, other six ETA members who were deported to Venezuela in 1989 work in the government led by Hugo Chávez. Arria testified before the Spanish National Court Judge Eloy Velasco, who is investigating the alleged links between Basque terrorist group ETA and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and their...

Spain expects to "maintain a cooperation" with Venezuela "in the fight against terrorism," at a time when the Spanish justice requested the extradition of the Spanish-Venezuelan citizen Arturo Cubillas, who has been accused of training members of the Basque armed group ETA in Venezuela. "We, as Spanish authorities, expect to keep cooperation in the fight against terrorism with Venezuelan authorities," Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jiménez said in a...

Iñaki Anasagasti, a Basque deputy for the parliamentary group of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), recalled that Basque separatist group ETA is a very sensitive issue in Spain. Therefore, if the Venezuelan government makes the mistake of preventing the extradition of Arturo Cubillas for prosecution in Spain, "this will become a major reason for confrontation." Cubillas holds a government job in Venezuela. Anasagasti urged new Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad...

The Spanish government claimed on Tuesday to trust in a reply from Venezuela concerning the potential extradition of a public servant of the administration of Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez and alleged ETA member Arturo Cubillas. "On behalf of the Spanish government, extradition of Cubillas has been requested, and now the Venezuelan government should issue an opinion, bearing in mind that Cubillas is both a Spanish and Venezuelan citizen," Spanish Minister of Foreign...

Dr. Aleida Guevara, daughter of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara, recently met with Hizbullah leaders in Lebanon and expressed support for the resistance. During the visit, which was reported by Al-Manar TV on October 12, 2010, Guevara laid a wreath on the tomb of Hizbullah leader Abbas Al-Musawi and said: "...as long as the memory [of the martyrs] remains within us, we will have more strength." Later, while visiting Baalbek, she said: "If we do not conduct resistance, we will...

Spanish opposition People's Party filed a motion before the Congress to require the government to take action against Venezuela after the "police and judicial determination of ETA activity" in the South American country, news agency Europa Press reported. The initiative calls for the Spanish government to voice a "strong protest" against Venezuelan authorities. Further, it requires Madrid to demand information from Caracas regarding both the activities of ETA in...

The government of Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez has decided to launch an investigation into the activities of ETA activist Arturo Cubillas Fontán after it emerged that he provided weapons training to Xabier Atristain and Juan Carlos Besance, two alleged members of Basque terrorist group ETA, in Venezuela in 2008. Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, informed the decision to Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Ángel Moratinos in a...

The alleged training of ETA members in Venezuela stirs controversy (Photo: AP) Spain's National Court Judge Eloy Velasco, who is investigating the alleged links between Basque separatist group ETA and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a guerrilla group, thinks that both armed organizations developed and produced weapons in Venezuela, as reported by Spanish newspaper El Mundo. Judge Velasco, who instructed the Spanish police to travel to Colombia to interrogate nine...

Spanish First Deputy Prime Minister María Teresa Fernández de la Vega with Colombian Vice President Angelino Garzón (Photo: EFE) The government of Spain on Wednesday asked the Venezuelan Executive Office for a more intense cooperation in the investigations related to the activities of the Basque separatist group ETA in Venezuela, as well as to take concrete actions regarding former ETA activist Arturo Cubillas, who is a senior official at the Venezuelan Ministry of...

Civil Guard operation against ETA (Photo: Javier Etxezarreta / EFE) Two alleged members of the Basque separatist group ETA admitted that they have received arms training in Venezuela, according to an indictment. Judge Ismael Moreno said that Javier Atristain and Juan Carlos Besance, who were arrested on Wednesday in the Basque Country, said they have received arms training in Venezuela between July and August 2008, AP reported. According to the judge, ETA suspect Arturo Cubillas,...