Venezuela Extends Support to Carlos the Jackal

The Venezuelan Government is providing assistance to Ilich Ramírez Sánchez who, known around the world as Carlos the Jackal, masterminded a series of audacious hostage-takings, assasinations and bombings that shook Europe during the 1970s.

Carlos is serving a life sentence in France for the 1975 murders of two French secret agents and an alleged informer.

Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said on state television on Wednesday that Venezuelan authorities have made "permanent contacts to support" the Venezuelan. He didn't detail the assistance provided by Venezuelan officials.

Ramirez faces "very difficult circumstances in France," Maduro said. He said Venezuelan officials will "continue providing that support from a human standpoint."

President Hugo Chavez in 2009 praised Ramirez saying he was a "revolutionary fighter" and not a terrorist.

Venezuela's Communist Party has urged the government to seek Ramirez's repatriation.

Asked about efforts by some Venezuelans to have Ramirez brought back to the country, Maduro said: "They're delicate issues that must be dealt with, let's say, carefully."

This article is based on the Associated Press.