Venezuela asks for details of charges in ETA case

3/18/2010 05:22:00 PM

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela has asked authorities in Spain to detail their accusations against an alleged ETA operative accused of helping the Basque separatist group arrange explosives training with Colombian rebels in Venezuela.

Venezuela asked Interpol in Madrid for details of the indictment naming Arturo Cubillas Fontan, who is among a group of ETA suspects wanted by Spanish authorities, Venezuelan Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said Thursday.

El Aissami's suggestion that Venezuela is willing to investigate the accusations sharply contrasts with previous statements by Chavez, who railed against Spanish authorities for saying they would demand an explaination from his government about the allegations.

Cubillas is accused by a Spanish judge of being ETA's representative in Venezuela since 1999 and playing a key role in deepening cooperation between the Basque militants and the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Authorities say Cubillas has lived in Venezuela since 1989, when he came from Algeria under an agreement with Spain. He is one of about 30 Basque separatists sent to Venezuela under various agreements with Spain in the 1980s and early '90s.

Cubillas is now a Venezuelan citizen married to a Venezuelan woman and has held a post in the agriculture ministry in Chavez's government.

El Aissami mentioned the case as Venezuela turned over 18 Spanish citizens imprisoned on drug convictions to Spanish authorities to finish their sentences in their homeland. The prisoners boarded a Spanish air force jet at Caracas' airport along with two children belonging to one of the prisoners.

The handover seemed timed to show Venezuela's willingness to cooperate amid tensions over a Spanish judge's order for the arrest of six alleged members of ETA and six members of the FARC — some of whom are thought to be in Venezuela.

Earlier this week, Chavez defended the Basque separatists who arrived in Venezuela years ago, saying he is certain they aren't involved in terrorism.

He also has vehemently denied the accusations by Spanish Judge Eloy Velasco that his government facilitated collaboration between ETA and the FARC, calling them lies aimed at harming Venezuela's image internationally.

Chavez's government has publicly joined Spain in condemning ETA, which has killed more than 800 people since the late 1960s in its battle to create an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwest France.

The judge said in his March 1 indictment that Cubillas helped organize joint training in arms and explosives with Colombian rebels. He alleged that included a 20-day course in 2007 at a ranch in Venezuela's southern Apure state where two ETA members exchanged knowledge with 13 FARC rebels and 7 members of the Bolivarian Liberation Forces, a small pro-Chavez militia.

The indictment also said a man wearing a vest with the insignia of Venezuela's military intelligence agency was present and arrived in a vehicle with military escorts.

Velasco's sources include the testimony of demobilized Colombian rebels and e-mails found in a computer used by FARC leader Raul Reyes, who was killed in a Colombian military raid on a rebel camp in Ecuador in 2008. The indictment said various e-mails describe Cubillas as an ETA delegate in Venezuela.

Cubillas' whereabouts are unclear. Calls to his wife's phone went unanswered Thursday, and he has not spoken publicly about the accusations.

The indictment says Cubillas is wanted for murder under a 1985 court order. But El Aissami said that when Cubillas applied for citizenship years ago, there was no warrant out for his arrest.

He questioned the sudden interest in capturing Cubillas so many years later. "What's behind this campaign?," he asked.

The justice minister said Venezuela is awaiting information about Cubillas' case "that will allow us to go deeper in this investigation."