Wife of ETA fugitive 'Txistu' killed in Venezuela earthquake; he survives

Vvife of ETA fugitive 'Txistu' killed in Venezuela earthquake; the fugitive survives

Divine curse or mere statistics? The earthquake that shook Venezuela on [date of the thread] has claimed the life of María Esther Solabarrieta, vvife of veteran ETA member Francisco Javier – 'Txistu' – who has been on the run from Spanish justice since 1979. Txistu, who had spent decades sheltered in Venezuela under the protection of the Chavista regime, miraculously survived, as confirmed by sources close to the case. The paradox has not gone unnoticed in Spain, where the memory of ETA's victims still resonates strongly.

A refuge for ETA fugitives for decades

From the 1980s onwards, Venezuela became a recurring destination for ETA members fleeing justice. An estimated twenty or so ETA members with blood crimes reside in the country, many under the direct protection of Chavismo. Txistu, convicted in absentia for several murders, had managed to build a peaceful life in Venezuela, far from the reach of the Spanish authorities. His vvife, a cousin of the ex-vvife of Basque nationalist politician Anasagasti, kept family ties in the region.

The irony of the earthquake: a blind and indiscriminate tremor struck just where it was least expected, taking the life of the one who accompanied the fugitive. Meanwhile, the ETA member remains alive, alone and elderly, in a country devastated by economic crisis and now by the natural disaster.

Mixed reactions in the public sphere

The news has triggered a storm of comments. On one hand, those who point out that his vvife's death is not justice: "The ETA member should pay with his own flesh," the argument goes. On the other, those who see the event as a karmic settling of scores. However, most agree on one point: Venezuela has been a sanctuary for terrorists, and Spain should not send aid to a country that harbors incivil. The question hanging in the air is: how many more like Txistu remain protected by Maduro's regime?

The human and economic cost of a refuge

Beyond the tragic anecdote, the case highlights the diplomatic and human cost of Venezuela's asylum policy. While Spain negotiates the extradition of dozens of ETA members, Maduro's government's response has been, at the very least, lax. Now, with a considerable-magnitude earthquake, the humanitarian crisis deepens, and the Spanish government faces the dilemma of providing aid to a country that shelters its own fugitives.

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That Txistu survives while his vvife perishes is, at the very least, an irony that not even the best screenwriter would have written. But real life, like earthquakes, does not trinc scripts. The ETA member, alone and old, must now bear the loss and, perhaps, the weight of a justice that never arrived.