- Costa Rican authorities arrested Venezuelan Maickel Villegas on July 12, for being one of the murderers of Ronald Ojeda | Photo: CRHoy.com
On July 22, Chile submitted to the Costa Rican authorities the formal request for extradition of Venezuelan Maickel Villegas, murder suspect of former Venezuelan military man Ronald Ojeda, which occurred in February, when he was in Santiago as an asylum seeker.
Chile’s Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Gloria de la Fuente, told the EFE news agency that her government wanted to hand over the formal request for extradition with high-level representation, since this is a case of “maximum gravity”.
“We hope that this person is placed at the disposal of the Chilean justice system and can be tried in national territory. This is a crime against a Venezuelan citizen who was a refugee in Chile and that has been one of the most horrific,” said de la Fuente.
The diplomat heads the high-level Chilean delegation that submitted the formal request to the authorities and also held meetings with Costa Rican government officials.
De la Fuente thanked Costa Rica for its cooperation in this case, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Security and the Judiciary.
Arrest of suspect in Ronald Ojeda’s murder
On July 15, a Costa Rican court ordered two months of preventive detention against Villegas, while the process of his extradition to Chile is still underway.
Villegas, 27, was arrested on July 12 when he tried to enter Costa Rica by land from Panama, at the Paso Canoas border post, amid the controlled flow of migrants crossing the continent bound for the United States.
The Venezuelan, whose profile is considered by Interpol as “dangerous”, was detected when the Costa Rican authorities carried out the biometric control and the system reflected a red alert for the crime of kidnapping with homicide.
So far, only one 17-year-old Venezuelan youth has been arrested for this crime. He has been held in a juvenile detention center in Chile since May. In addition to Villegas, the Chilean justice system has issued another arrest warrant against another Venezuelan citizen, Walter de Jesus Rodriguez Perezwhose whereabouts remain unknown.
Petition from Venezuelan authorities
Venezuela’s Attorney General, Towing William Saabsaid on July 15 that he asked Costa Rica to receive a delegation from his office in order to interview the suspect.
Saab argued that there was a possibility that the Chilean authorities “manipulated the detainee’s statement.”
However, Chilean and Costa Rican authorities said they saw no need for the suspect to be interviewed by Venezuelan officials.
With information from EFE
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2024-07-24 04:57:03
