VHeadline News Editor Patrick J. O'Donoghue reports: President Chavez has confirmed the arrest of Colombian Secret Service (DAS) agents for alleged espionage.

During a phone-in to a political talk show on state VTV channel, Chavez revealed that two persons have been arrested and that they will be tried in national courts. According to the President, the two agents were captured in fraganti seeking information about Venezuelan militias and military units.

Chavez maintained that this is not the first time that the State has uncovered Colombians on espionage missions in Venezuela, recalling the case of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), international affairs leader, Rodrigo Granda, who was kidnapped by Colombian security agents in December 2004. Unlike other occasions when the Venezuelan government returned agents and spies to Colombia, Chavez declared that this time the foreign agents would be put on trial here.

Mentioning the military agreement between Colombia and the USA over the use of seven domestic military bases, Chavez insisted that it has heralded increased spying activities with the connivance and encouragement of the USA and he publicly lamented what was happening to the "Colombia of Simon Bolivar." Speaking about the football team assassination in Tachira State, the President said it was another example of what is spilling over the border from the Colombian side.

• The government is investigating the incident, Chavez told listeners, and the police have enough evidence to reach a conclusion about the football team's activities this side of the border.

The President pointed out that the 10 Colombians and 1 Peruvian were not carrying documents and that "somebody was financing them."

Patrick J. O'Donoghue
news.editor@vheadline.com