The Spanish National Court has suspended a request to Venezuela for information on 14 alleged ETA fugitives, including Ignacio de Juana Chaos, until the accusations against each person are clarified. The Fourth Section of the Criminal Chamber partially upheld an appeal by the defense of seven suspects already charged in the investigation into the so-called Colectivo de Huidos Políticos Vascos (EIPK).
The court agreed that investigating whether the individuals are in Venezuela is “useful and necessary.” But it instructed investigating judge Francisco de Jorge to identify who is under investigation and detail the acts attributed to each person before sending a formal request for assistance to Caracas. The request came from victims’ association Dignidad y Justicia (DyJ), which is taking part in the proceedings as a popular prosecution, separate from the public prosecutor.
The ruling is procedural. It does not determine the suspects’ guilt, establish that they are in Venezuela or decide whether they could be extradited. Instead, the court requires the proposed international inquiry to link each person to specific alleged conduct. The Audiencia Nacional’s Criminal Chamber handles major criminal proceedings, including terrorism and transnational-crime cases, under Spain’s Organic Law of the Judiciary.
The court’s resolution refers to political changes in Venezuela, including Delcy Rodríguez’s rise after the US-led operation that removed Nicolás Maduro from power in January 2026. De Jorge had argued that the change could open the door to cooperation from Venezuelan authorities, particularly in cases involving suspects wanted over attacks dating to Spain’s early democratic period. Spain has previously received limited cooperation from Venezuela in efforts concerning suspected ETA members.
The 14 people named in the request are Ignacio de Juana Chaos; José Luis Eciolaza Galán, alias Dienteputo; Eugenio Barrutiabengoa Zabarte, known as Arbe; María Artola Echeverría; Ángel María Lizarbe Oses; Luis María Olalde Quintela, known as Txistu; José Ángel Uriz Zabaleta; Arturo Cubillas Fontán; Javier Urruti Imaz; Asunción Arana Altuna, known as Olivia; Juan José Aristizábal Cortejarena; Manuel Asier Guridi Zaloña, known as Gari; Jesús María Huerta Fernández; and Ignacio Echevarría Lanzábal. The request concerned alleged links between these individuals and the EIPK, which a Guardia Civil report described as operating within ETA’s political apparatus and helping monitor members living in exile.
De Jorge had also planned to send a separate commission rogatory to the United States to question Hugo Armando Carvajal, a former Venezuelan military intelligence chief known as el Pollo Carvajal. He is imprisoned in the US on drug-trafficking charges. Carvajal, extradited from Spain in 2023, previously said he had information about the whereabouts of 17 ETA members allegedly protected by the Maduro government.
The defense teams argued that the information sought from Venezuela was neither necessary nor relevant to the investigation of EIPK activities or the individuals already under scrutiny. They said the Guardia Civil report did not attribute specific criminal acts to the 14 people and that eight were not mentioned in the police documents. They also argued that the request relied largely on media reports, a list Carvajal was said to have compiled and the change of government in Venezuela, making it a speculative inquiry prohibited by Spanish law.
In a ruling dated June 17, the three judges rejected the claim that the investigation was inherently too broad, noting that judicial inquiries can develop as new information emerges. But they said the proposed requests to Venezuela and the United States risked turning the case into a “general cause”: an open-ended inquiry without clearly defined targets or alleged crimes. The panel ordered De Jorge to specify the individuals under investigation and the acts attributed to each, finding the requests too generic in their current form.
De Jorge has since asked both the public prosecutor and Dignidad y Justicia to submit proposals identifying the specific facts and individuals under investigation. The decision comes amid continuing litigation over alleged ETA crimes and support networks. A January 2025 proceeding before Basic Investigating Court No. 1 involved five former ETA leaders: José Javier Arizcuren Ruiz, known as Kantauri; Ignacio Gracia Arregi, known as Iñaki de Rentería; Mikel Albisu Iriarte, known as Mikel Antza; Julián Atxurra Egurrola, known as Pototo; and Juan Luis Agirre Lete, known as Isuntza. A separate report says more than a dozen cases against former ETA leaders remain open.
Other proceedings show the cross-border reach of these investigations. In 2023, an investigating judge sought to expand France’s surrender of several ETA figures and ordered searches and European arrest warrants for others in connection with an unresolved attack. On June 9, 2026, María Soledad Iparraguirre, known as Anboto, and Ainhoa Múgica, known as Olga, appeared before a judge and declined to testify. The Venezuela request is part of this wider effort to pursue unresolved cases, but the court requires individualized allegations before foreign assistance is sought.
The development comes amid heightened scrutiny of judicial proceedings in Spain, including other high-profile cases involving political figures. A former PSOE insider has prepared to testify independently, potentially affecting party stability, as reported in this related article.
ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna) was a Basque separatist group responsible for hundreds of deaths before it dissolved in 2018. Spanish authorities describe the EIPK, or Colectivo de Huidos Políticos Vascos, as a network supporting former ETA members living abroad. The court’s decision does not end the inquiry into whether the 14 individuals are in Venezuela. Any future request for judicial assistance must set out the suspected conduct person by person.
