Who would you believe? Not Chavez, that's for sure!

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denied an allegation that his government helped train Basque separatists trying to create an independent state. The allegations surfaced Monday, when Spanish media reported that two captured members of the outlawed Basque separatist organization known as ETA told authorities they had received arms training in Venezuela in 2008. Juan Carlos Besance and Xabier Atristain, members of an ETA cell known as Imanol, were arrested September 29.

And a Spanish judge said in March that the Venezuelan government facilitated a long-time cooperation between leftist rebels in Colombia and ETA. Chavez called the accusations a "broken record." "There's a permanent conspiracy against the true democratic processes," Chavez said Monday night on the state-run VTV network. Yes, Mr Chavez, the conspiracy is dircted by you!

El Pais and El Mundo newspapers and other Spanish news outlets reported Monday that Besance and Atristain said they met in Venezuela with Arturo Cubillas Fontan. A Spanish High Court indictment this year alleges that Cubillas has been ETA's leader in Venezuela since 1999 -- in charge of the separatist group's relations with the Colombian rebels known as the FARC. Cubillas became an official in Venezuela's Ministry of Agriculture in 2005, the indictment says.

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Dictators and democracies

Colombia and Venezuela are both Latino nations in the South American continent, in fact, they are next-door neighbours. But that's about where the similarities end, at least politically. One, Venezuela, is led by a populist madman with delusions of grandeur, who is taking his country on the path to great hurt, for his own sake. The other, Colombia, is ruled by an imperfect but capable man who has gracefully accepted the Colombian Constitutional Court's rejection of a referendum that would have allowed him to pursue a third term in power. Alvaro Uribe's actions give me great hope for the future of this beautiful country. The two men could not be more unlike in their attitudes, performance and behaviour.

Colombia is possibly the most democratic country in the region while Venezuela seems to be plunging back into the dark ages, propelled there by a dictator who has too much in common with the likes of Saddam Hussein. Venezuela is not a place I would like to do business, feel safe from corruption, or have any confidence that my civil rights would be protected. Colombia, on the other hand, has problems of it's own with drug cartels and Marxist-Leninist terror organizations within it's borders. But I know where I would be more likely to enjoy a good life and have the opportunity to prosper. It wouldn't be where Hugo Chavez was the boss of anything.

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Hugo Chávez 'terrorist link' sparks diplomatic row between Spain and Venezuela

A Spanish judge yesterday accused the government of president Hugo Chavez in Venezuela of involvement with the Basque terrorist group ETA, sparking a diplomatic row between the two countries. The allegations, made in a court document by investigating magistrate Eloy Velasco, said that the Chávez government had acted as an intermediary between Eta and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group. "There is evidence in this case which shows the Venezuelan government's co-operation in the illegal association between FARC and ETA," the magistrate said as he issued international arrest warrants for six alleged Eta members and seven Colombians believed to be members of FARC.

• "Profile: Hugo Chavez", BBC News, 12/5/02.
• "Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA), Council on Foreign Affairs, 11/17/08.
  
• "Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Global Security, 6/25/08

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