Gustavo de Arístegui, foreign affairs spokesperson for Spanish conservative People's Party (PP), Tuesday accused the Spanish government of being an accomplice of the provocative attitude President Hugo Chávez has adopted in the face of the Colombia-Ecuador crisis stemming from the killing of rebel FARC leader Raúl Reyes.

De Arístegui hailed as positive the Spanish government's willingness to facilitate a diplomatic agreement between Colombia and Ecuador, Efe reported. However, the spokesman claimed that the Spanish government was acquiescent to Chávez's "militaristic expansionism."

The spokesman of PP -the major opposition party in Spain- reminded that the President of the Spanish government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, in May 2005 okayed an agreement to sell 12 cargo aircraft and eight boats to Venezuela.

The sale of the airplanes was not completed, but the coastal patrol boats were actually sold to Venezuela, Efe reported.

According to De Arístegui, such purchase of defense equipment highlighted Chávez's military strategy, which Zapatero "refused to see."

"We knew the military escalation in Venezuela would eventually result in serious consequences for regional peace," he added.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos Monday said they were taking steps, together with the Foreign Minister of the countries involved in the conflict, to help ease the situation.

For De Arístegui, Chávez is looking for "any excuse" to ignite some "skirmish" in order to "get the attention off from his serious domestic problems."