Police in Portugal arrested a suspected member of Basque separatist group ETA while attempting to board a flight to Venezuela, said officials on Friday.
Andoni Cengotitabengoa was detained Thursday night at Lisbon airport when he was about to board a flight to the Venezuelan capital of Caracas using a fake Mexican passport.
Portuguese officials claim that Cengotitabengoa was one of the two suspects who fled after police raided their base in Casal da Avarela, north of Lisbon, in February and unearthed nearly 1,500 explosives. The other suspect is still on the run.
The ETA or Euskadi ta Askatasuna, which means Basque Homeland and Freedom, was founded 50 years ago during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Since its founding, the group has been fighting for a separate state in the Basque region that lies between northern Spain and southern France.
Militants belonging to the ETA have carried out numerous attacks in the region, killing more than 800 people in Spain since the 1960's. The organization is considered a terrorist group by Spain, the European Union and the United States.
Cengotitabengoa's arrest comes two weeks after a judge at Spain's High Court on Monday accused the government of Venezuela of helping Basque ETA rebels and Colombian leftist FARC guerrillas to carry out possible attacks on high-ranking Colombian officials on Spanish soil.
Judge Velasco made the allegation while indicting six members of Basque separatist group ETA and seven members of Colombian rebel group FARC with various offenses on 1st March. He also issued warrants for their arrests.
Judge Velasco alleged in the indictment against the FARC and ETA suspects that "there are inquiries in this proceeding that demonstrate the Venezuelan government's cooperation with the illicit collaboration between FARC and ETA."
Like the ETA, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels have been fighting the Colombian government for four decades and is said to be Latin America's longest-running insurgency. They are seeking to impose a leftist regime in the country, which would redistribute land more equitably among the country's impoverished population. They use money generated from smuggling of cocaine for funding their insurgency.
The cooperation between the two rebel groups and their connection with Spain was exposed after a computer used by FARC leader Raul Reyes was seized during a Colombian military raid on one of the rebel group's camps in Ecuador in March 2008.
However, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dismissed Judge Velasco's allegations, and described them as part of a U.S. conspiracy to discredit his country. The Venezuelan also alleged that Colombian authorities may have manipulated the e-mails found in Reyes' computer.
Judge Velasco's allegations had sparked off a diplomatic row between Spain and Venezuela, after Madrid requested "information" from Caracas over the issue. But the tense situation was defused later after the two governments issued a joint statement reiterating their ties in the fight against terrorism.
Separately, Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega stressed Friday that her country has the support of Venezuela in its fight against terrorism, saying: "We are cooperating and acting in cooperation with all countries, with Portugal, as it has been shown, but also with Venezuela."
The latest development comes months after Colombia claimed to have recovered anti-tank weapons sold to Venezuela by a European country during raids conducted on FARC rebel camps in July last year, and accused Caracas of backing the Colombian rebels.
Authorities in Sweden later confirmed that the weapons recovered from the FARC rebels were a part of the arms sold to Venezuela in the 1980s, and added that no Swedish company had permits to sell arms to Colombia.
A day after Colombian authorities accused Caracas of having relations with leftist FARC rebels, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez froze diplomatic ties with Colombia and recalled the country's ambassador from Bogota.
Also, relations between Venezuela and Colombia have been on the wane in recent months after Bogota signed an agreement with the United States to allow Washington use seven Colombian military bases to conduct anti-drug operations.
Soon after the news of the planned U.S.-Colombian military deal emerged in August, Chavez accused the United States of planning to use the deal as means to improve aircraft mobility for launching war against other countries in the region. He said that the U.S. "global strategy for domination explains the installation of these bases in Colombia."
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.