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Venezuela arrests 8 alleged Colombian spies

06 April 2010 23:47 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Venezuelan authorities have arrested eight Colombians and the country’s top security official on Tuesday accused them of spying, APA reports citing news.yahoo.com web-page.
Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said the Colombians were detained more than a week ago and are suspected of "committing the crime of espionage" by gathering information on Venezuela’s electricity system.
Investigators confiscated a camera containing images of power plants and the electrical system, El Aissami was quoted as saying by the state-run Bolivarian News Agency.
President Hugo Chavez has recently denounced purported sabotage of Venezuela’s power grid, saying government foes hope to exacerbate problems as the country struggles with a severe energy crisis. But he has not offered any evidence of sabotage.
El Aissami told state television that two of the Colombians were arrested in northern Aragua state and six suspects were detained in the rural western state of Barinas. He did not elaborate on the suspects’ identities or provide additional details about the spying accusations.
The arrests were first reported last week by the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, which said five of the suspects are members of the same family that owns an ice cream manufacturing business in Barinas. The remaining three are employees of the business, El Tiempo said.
The arrests are likely to escalate long-standing tensions between Chavez and Colombia’s U.S.-allied government.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said Monday that Chavez’s administration doesn’t plan to make any efforts to smooth over tensions until Colombians elect a new president in May 30 elections.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe responded to that comment Tuesday, suggesting his government has little interest in repairing relations. He alluded to Colombia’s repeated accusations that Venezuela has given Colombian rebels safe haven â€” a charge Chavez’s government denies.
"Amid these diplomatic difficulties, Colombia has stood by the fundamental principle that we cannot allow terrorists that kill the Colombian people to take refuge in other regions," Uribe said during an interview broadcast on Radio Nacional de Colombia.
Uribe did not comment on the arrests in Venezuela.