The kidnapping and murder of Ronald Ojeda was organized from Venezuela

The kidnapping and murder of former Venezuelan lieutenant Ronald Ojeda, 32 years old and a political refugee in Chile since 2018, was organized from Venezuela and had a political motive, said Chilean prosecutor Héctor Barros.

In an interview with the Chilevisión channel, Barros was asked if he was convinced that the motive for this murder was political, to which he replied that they have ruled out ““All the theories that have to do with his (Ojeda’s) participation in the commission of any illegal act. Therefore, the only theory that remains valid is the one you indicate.”

The prosecutor, who coordinates the Organized Crime and Homicide Team (ECOH) in Santiago, indicated that “So far I have no other evidence that shows us, that indicates, to go in another direction.”

“We maintain that this was organized and that the kidnapping and subsequent murder of Mr. Ojeda was requested from Venezuela.”

Barros added.

President Boric hardens his tone

The President assured that the Government will work permanently with the Attorney General’s Office to advance the investigation. In addition, the Head of State pointed out that the objective is for the criminals of the homicide to face Chilean justice.

Boric said the goal is for those guilty of the murder of retired military officer Ronald Ojeda to face Chilean justice.Not only will we not allow impunity, but with this logic we will exhaust all national and international instances.“, he stressed.

“We have consistently had a clear voice in the various international bodies in which our country participates. Today we demand the collaboration of the Venezuelan government in the effort to clarify this investigation.“, accurate.

The President also stated that he “finds it unacceptable that authorities from other countries, but particularly from Venezuela, make statements that cast doubt on the existence of criminal organizations such as the Tren de Aragua, relativizing what inhabitants of our country and others in the region have experienced in relation to the actions of this organized crime gang.”

The body of Ojeda was found on March 2 buried under cement inside a suitcase. So far, the only person arrested in the case is a 17-year-old Venezuelan youth, who is linked to the Tren de Aragua, which has been operating since 2022 in several regions of Chile. Therefore, the Chilean official believes that the crime could be related to said gang.

Was it a crime organized by the DGCIM?

When questioned about the possibility that the crime It was organized from Venezuela, by counterintelligence agencies, specifically by the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM)), Barros said he doesn’t know, but explained that they do “a job in line with the background information we are gathering in the investigative file.”

“Now, there is a level of organization, of execution of this crime, that we had not seen. The Aragua Train never acted by making a scene like the one they made in this case, dressed as policemen, where they also took the trouble to bury it at a depth of 1.40 meters and cement the place. The Aragua Train has never done that.“, he added.

Ronald Ojeda was kidnapped by three men with their faces covered and in uniforms of the Chilean Investigative Police (PDI), in the early hours of Wednesday, February 21, from his apartment located on the 14th floor in the municipality of Independencia, where he lived with his wife and young son.

In the face of this way of acting by the kidnappers, Barros stressed that The man who appears in the videos grabbing Ojeda by the neck, in his opinion, has special training.

“Since these videos have been made public, I can only say that I have at least come to the conclusion that the person who transported the victim is indeed a person who is trained and who has a different condition than the other participants.”said.

However, he indicated that He does not know if that subject could be a military man, “I don’t know that. What I can say for sure is that he is a foreigner,” and stressed that “according to the perception of the video” is a person who is trained to kidnap.