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 Agriculture and Lands.

The request was made by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos during a conversation he had with Venezuelan Ambassador to Spain Isaías Rodríguez, reported Spanish First Deputy Prime Minister María Teresa Fernández de la Vega.

In a press conference at the Moncloa Palace, the official residence for the Prime Minister, along with Colombian Vice President Angelino Garzón, Fernández de la Vega said that Moratinos requested "immediate and concrete action" and said that she was confident that the Venezuelan authorities will address the request, Efe reported.

Fernández de la Vega recalled that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has reiterated his full willingness to cooperate with Spain after ETA members Javier Atristain and Juan Carlos Besance confessed that they received arms training in Venezuela.

"We have no reason to assume that the Venezuelan government is not going to cooperate," she said.

Source: ElUniversal.com