A former ETA member now under protected witness status has given Spanish authorities detailed testimony about the group's leadership and its oversight of militants who fled abroad. The Guardia Civil gathered the evidence, identified in official documents as TP-GC-003-DI-9/23. It forms part of a major Audiencia Nacional case concerning 14 former ETA members in Venezuela. The investigation began in 2024 and is being pursued by the Fiscalía and the victims' association Dignidad y Justicia (DyJ); seven individuals are already under formal investigation.
The witness decided to cooperate with authorities in June 2023. He described ETA's command structure and how it controlled exiled members until the group's dissolution in 2018. The leadership, known as the Zuzendaritza Batzordea (Zuba), consisted of 12 people, he said, including a five-member executive committee responsible for basic decisions such as attacks and kidnappings. ETA had several operational units, including political and military sections, alongside international and logistical units. Each had departments responsible for training and safe houses, as well as border crossings and vehicle theft.
The witness's account places the Zuba above a network of operational structures. Spanish judicial proceedings have also examined whether ETA leaders could be held responsible for coordinating military operations and the organization's logistical and financial functions, rather than focusing only on those who carried out attacks. In a separate case concerning the 2002 bombing in Santa Pola, the Audiencia Nacional has investigated alleged responsibility among ETA leaders for an attack that killed Silvia Martínez Santiago and Cecilio Gallego Alaminos and injured dozens.
The Santa Pola bombing, on August 4, 2002, targeted a Guardia Civil barracks with a car bomb containing about 100 kilograms of explosives. The court proceedings concern alleged terrorist murder, along with charges involving injuries and damage. The defendants have not been finally convicted in that case. The timeline reflects the continuing judicial focus on command responsibility: preliminary proceedings opened in March 2022 after a complaint by DyJ; Mikel Albisu Iriarte and Ramón Sagarzazu Gaztelumendi were processed in August 2024. On October 20, 2026, Audiencia Nacional judge Antonio Piña added María Soledad Iparraguirre Guenechea, known as “Anboto,” and Juan Antonio Olarra Guridi. He also added Ainhoa Múgica Goñi and Félix Ignacio Esparza.
The international apparatus handled arms purchases abroad. It also forged documents and arranged visas for exiles. The witness identified Josu Ternera (José Antonio Urrutikoetxea) as the head of the unit during his time in ETA. A special committee within this structure oversaw deported members, enforcing discipline and cohesion among those living in third countries. It managed funds for exiles and monitored their behavior, reporting misconduct to the leadership in southern France. The witness said members could return to Spain or France only if the organization required it. Those who wanted to leave ETA entirely were often assigned roles as sympathizers to keep them involved in support activities.
The testimony also revealed that exiled members received annual visits from lawyers and representatives of the left-wing abertzale movement. They asked about members' personal circumstances and monitored them for dissent. The witness described the visits as a form of political oversight within the exile community. The Guardia Civil's recent efforts to find former ETA members willing to cooperate have become a basic strategy for resolving unsolved attacks, particularly those involving people with direct or indirect contact with the group's leadership or armed units.
Former ETA members have previously served as protected witnesses in Spanish courts. In 2023, two others provided information that contributed to at least nine cases, including reopened investigations into the killings of Miguel Ángel Blanco and Gregorio Ordóñez. The current witness is considered to have had closer access to the organization's leadership: he joined ETA in the late 1970s, served in a command unit and later took on other roles before seeking refuge abroad. His testimony is considered particularly valuable for understanding how ETA controlled exiled members and managed its international operations.
ETA formally announced its definitive dissolution on May 3, 2018, in a recorded message delivered in Basque and Spanish by Josu Urrutikoetxea, known as “Josu Ternera,” and Maixol Iparragirre, known as “Anboto.” The Swiss mediation organization Henri Dunant assisted with the process surrounding the announcement. The dissolution ended an organization associated with nearly 59 years of violence, but judicial proceedings into past attacks and alleged leadership responsibility continued.
The investigation into ETA exiles in Venezuela comes amid broader scrutiny of Spanish interests in the region. Civil society responses to crises have highlighted the complex interplay between local actors and foreign networks. Recent events in Venezuela, for example, have shown how non-state groups and international networks can influence outcomes. One example came when local solidarity efforts overtook official responses after a major earthquake. These dynamics add to the challenges Spanish authorities face in tracking and prosecuting former militants who remain outside the country.
ETA, or Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, was a Basque separatist group responsible for hundreds of deaths over several decades before announcing its dissolution in 2018. Its legacy continues to shape Spanish security policy and judicial investigations, especially cases involving unresolved crimes and the fate of exiled members.
