Colombia can’t confirm ongoing FARC-ETA ties

In an interview with Spanish radio station Onda Cero, Colombian Vice President-elect Angelino Garzon said that Colombia was unable to confirm if members of Colombia’s FARC and Basque separatist group ETA remain in contact.

Garzon said that while “both countries have made a great effort to fight the collaboration between these two groups, I can not categorically affirm if they maintain contact or if it has finished.”

However according to Garzon “the important thing is the political will” of Spain and Colombia to work together in the fight against terrorism.

During the interview Garzon reiterated that the incoming administration of Colombian President-elect Juan Manuel Santos, who will be inaugurated August 7, is disposed to open doors to a dialogue with the FARC, as long as the guerrilla group agrees to certain conditions.

In March, Spanish Judge Eloy Velasco ordered international arrest warrants for FARC and ETA members accused of ties with Venezuela’s government.

Velasco sparked a diplomatic row between Spain and Venezuela after the Spanish judge made public a 26-page indictment which accused the socialist nation of helping ETA rebels and FARC guerrillas plot possible attacks on Spanish soil.

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