By DPA
Madrid : Spanish security services prevented an attempt to spy on Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero during his official visit to Venezuela on March 30, 2005, the daily El Pais reported Monday.
Venezuelan prosecutors are to study the report and open an investigation if it turns out to be correct, Venezuelan attorney general Isaias Rodriguez said.
The investigation would “establish the responsibility of who may have carried out this kind of activity,” said Rodriguez, who was attending a meeting of Ibero-American prosecutors in Madrid.
A microphone was found under the hotel table around which Zapatero was to meet Venezuelan opposition leaders in Caracas, according to El Pais.
The Venezuelan official in charge of Zapatero’s security denied any knowledge of the attempt at spying. The intelligence services of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez were suspected, the daily said.
Spain did not take any diplomatic measures because of the incident, an official source was quoted as saying.
Opposition representatives claimed that the Chavez government spied routinely on the opposition and on foreign diplomats, using the information to “spread fear” among its opponents.