Chile accused President Nicolás Maduro’s second-in-command, Diosdado Cabello, of giving the order to kill a dissident in Santiago final yr. The hit was allegedly carried out by a transnational Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua.
On January 23, Lawyer Basic Ángel Valencia introduced {that a} protected witness had instructed investigators that Cabello, Venezuela’s present Inside Minister, ordered the killing of Ronald Ojeda, a former lieutenant within the armed forces who had allegedly conspired to overthrow the Maduro regime.
Ojeda was discovered lifeless on March 1, 2024, 10 days after being kidnapped. The 32 yr outdated had been residing in exile in Santiago since 2017 and he was granted political asylum in 2023.
Speaking to Chilean broadcaster Tele13Radio, Valencia mentioned that three witnesses testifying within the investigation “attribute the order [of Ojeda’s murder] to Venezuelan authorities authorities, and not less than one who has his identification withheld would say that the order had come from Mr. Diosdado Cabello.”
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Final week, Chilean authorities carried out large-scale raids within the Santiago suburbs which led to the arrest of greater than a dozen members linked to Ojeda’s homicide, as reported by Reuters.
Chile’s Inside Minister, Carolina Tohá, said that the Chilean authorities won’t think about breaking diplomatic ties with Venezuela regardless of Lawyer Basic Valencia’s accusations towards the Venezuelan chief.
In response to newspaper La Tercera, Tohá said: “The day you chop relations is nice information, sounds superb, the subsequent day Justice doesn’t advance any additional, investigations will not be facilitated, the situation of Chilean migrants who’re there or Venezuelans who’re right here doesn’t enhance.”
Nonetheless, Tohá additionally publicly announced the opportunity of bringing the case to the Worldwide Prison Courtroom if the hyperlinks between Ojeda’s homicide and senior commanders of the Venezuelan authorities are confirmed.
Ojeda’s Abduction and Homicide
From exile, Ojeda continued to criticise the Maduro authorities. In January of 2024, he appeared on a list of 33 lively and former troopers accused of plotting a terrorist “conspiracy” towards Maduro.
On February 21, 2024, Ojeda was kidnapped at his condo at 3:15AM, as proven by CCTV footage from the night time, which appears to point out three males in Chilean police uniforms and riot gear taking a barefoot Ojeda.
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His physique was present in a suitcase within the suburbs of the Chilean capital on March 1.
According to InSight Crime’s Venezuela Investigative Unit, Ojeda’s kidnapping and subsequent homicide confirmed an “uncommon degree of sophistication” for the felony group.
The police uniforms, a scarcity of ransom request, and the truth that Ojeda was taken from his dwelling quite than a public place, set his abduction aside from Tren de Aragua’s regular kidnapping fashion.
On the time, Ojeda’s homicide sparked considerations that the Maduro regime was adopting ways utilized by Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping –each shut allies to Maduro– of going after dissidents on overseas soil.
Tren de Aragua
Tren de Aragua, the gang reportedly related to Ojeda’s homicide, is Venezuela’s most powerful homegrown felony group, as per InSight Crime.
The group began as a jail gang within the state of Aragua, however has expanded throughout Latin America alongside the roughly 8 million Venezuelans who’ve fled their nation. The group now poses a real transnational safety menace.
Because it gained presence past Venezuela, Tren de Aragua’s actions have included extortion, kidnapping, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and unlawful mining, amongst others.
After Ojeda’s homicide, Chilean president Gabriel Boric had vowed to dismantle the group, affirming they’d “chase them by means of land, sea and sky.”
Most just lately, US President Donald Trump designated Tren de Aragua as a overseas terrorist group upon taking workplace.
