US urges Venezuela to detain guerrilla members
Editorial | El Universal
26.01.05 | The United States urged Venezuela to review the information delivered by Bogotá about the alleged stay of 10 Colombian guerrilla members in Venezuelan territory and arrest them if they are actually in Venezuela, news agency DPA reported.
Department of State Spokesman Adam Ereli acknowledged that the US is involved in these operations, but only with regard to collection of intelligence information. "We expect that the Venezuelan government reviews carefully this information and take the appropriate police actions against terrorists."
"We are certainly keeping an eye on what the Venezuelan government does or fails to do concerning the information provided. And its actions in this regard will define subsequent US judgments and assessments," he said.
Questioned about the US involvement in the capture of the so-called "chancellor" of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) Rodrigo Granda, Ereli answered: "I guess that we can say we are involved as we urged the Venezuelan government to take action on the information about terrorists residing in its territory and using it for their activities. And, you know, we are also involved to the extent that we help provide information and share information. That is it."
Also, as stated by Ereli, Washington request from Caracas to take appropriate police actions against FARC guerrilla members in Venezuelan territory is their ordinary stance on any foreign country.
"All of us are waging a war against those who use violence against innocent people to fulfill their ideological or political goals. This is true for FARC and others," he said.
"Therefore, it is important for us, when dealing with foreign governments, that in the event of available information or access of those organizations to territory or resources, governments should intervene and bring it to an end. This is true for Colombia, and it is true for Venezuela. It is a general framework", he said.
With information by María Elena Matheus and Everett Bauman
Translated by Conchita Delgado
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