MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish police will travel to Colombia to question nine ex-members of guerrilla group FARC as part of an investigation into alleged links between FARC, the Venezuelan government and Basque separatists ETA, a legal source said on Wednesday.
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.
Velasco has asked for the testimonies of two suspected ETA members who, according to a Spanish court order, received training in France and Venezuela in 2008. The pair were arrested last week and are in custody.
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 neighboring Colombia.
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.
He will hear the declaration of two ex-Venezuelan judges on Nov. 15 who claim to have information on ETA’s activities in Venezuela, the legal source said.
ETA, which has killed more than 850 people over four decades in its campaign for an independent Basque homeland, announced a truce last month but the move was greeted dismissively by the Spanish government.
