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Venezuela 'helped Eta and Farc' | Venezuela 'helped Eta and Farc' |
(40 minutes later) | |
A Spanish judge has accused the Venezuelan government of assisting two rebel groups who plotted to kill Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe. | A Spanish judge has accused the Venezuelan government of assisting two rebel groups who plotted to kill Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe. |
Judge Eloy Velasco charged six members of Basque separatist group Eta and seven members of Colombian rebel group Farc with various offences. | Judge Eloy Velasco charged six members of Basque separatist group Eta and seven members of Colombian rebel group Farc with various offences. |
He said he believed Farc had asked for Eta's help in a plot to kill Colombian officials in Spain, including Mr Uribe. | He said he believed Farc had asked for Eta's help in a plot to kill Colombian officials in Spain, including Mr Uribe. |
He said the two groups benefited from "Venezuelan government co-operation". | He said the two groups benefited from "Venezuelan government co-operation". |
In a 26-page indictment Mr Velasco said an investigation launched in 2008 has turned up evidence "that demonstrates Venezuelan governmental cooperation in the illicit collaboration between Farc and Eta". | |
Both groups are listed as terrorist organisations by the US and EU. | |
He said Eta and Farc had been collaborating since 1993, and accused Arturo Cubillas Fontan of being a key link. | |
Mr Fontan lives in Venezuela and has held a job in the government of President Hugo Chavez - and may still have one - the judge wrote. | |
He is also a suspected member of Eta, Mr Velasco said. | |
Left-wing ideology | |
The investigation was launched after links to Spain came to light when a computer used by Farc leader Raul Reyes was seized during a Colombian military raid on a Farc camp in Ecuador in March 2008. | |
Both Eta and Farc claim to be rooted in left-wing ideology. | |
Eta has been blamed for more than 820 deaths during its 41-year campaign for an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain. | |
Farc has been fighting even longer, mounting a major insurgency intended to topple the Colombian government and establish a Marxist-style state. | |
There have long been allegations of links between Farc and President Hugo Chavez's left-wing government in Venezuela. | |
In 2008 a major diplomatic dispute arose after Colombia accused Venezuela of running arms to Farc. Mr Chavez has strenuously denied any such links. |