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Chile’s President Gabriel Boric announced Thursday that he would send Venezuela a “note of protest” over statements made by the country’s Attorney General, Derek William Sapp, regarding the killing of former Venezuelan military officer Ronald Ojeda.
Sapp speculated that Chilean authorities and officials from other countries were involved in Ojeda’s kidnapping and murder.An opponent of Nicolás Maduro’s government and living as a political refugee in Chile since 2018.
“In this operation, Chilean intelligence agencies and pseudo-interested foreigners may have participated,” he said.
Ojeda He was kidnapped on February 21, 2024 in Santiago And his body was found 10 days later inside a suitcase buried under cement. Since then, Venezuelan protesters have denounced the kidnappers as agents of the Maduro government, which has not been proven.
On April 11, the Chilean prosecutor’s office confirmed that the crime was “organized by the Aragua train.” “It was organized from Venezuela” and was politically motivated.
“If we analyze all the reasons, the only line of investigation we are working on remains, and the profile of the victim is political because of his participation in activities against the Venezuelan government,” the prosecutor added. Hector Barros.
Attorney Sapp noted this in his statements Wednesday. He truly said The intention was to politicize the murderBut this “is being considered in the Chilean media and the Chilean prosecutor’s office does not want to deny or confirm.”
“We consider that Ojeda’s killing was a false flag operation“A move aimed at blurring relations between Chile and Venezuela at a time when a very important reconciliation is taking place,” he said.
The Chilean president responded to the reports by saying that “the Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Public Affairs are conducting a serious investigation into this matter” and that the Venezuelan Prosecutor’s Office should make it available to the Chilean Prosecutor’s Office if there are other precedents. .
“The comments of the Venezuelan attorney effectively show that “There’s not enough will to solve a case that’s so complicated,” Boric said.
In April, Attorney General Barros noted that Venezuela had been formally requested to cooperate Two Venezuelan citizens arrested Related to the case believed to be on Venezuelan soil.
Chilean Undersecretary of the Interior Manuel Mansalve reiterated that demand this Wednesday after Chapin’s statements.
“What Chile expects is that Venezuela cooperates, and cooperation means cooperating not only with reports, but with facts, and the facts that interest us in this case are the location and detention of the two people who have been prosecuted. That collaboration has yet to materialize“, said.
A rare relationship
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When will this Thursday’s claim from Chile to Venezuela occur? Relations between the two countries are deteriorating.
In early April, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Juan Gil summoned his ambassador in Caracas, Chile, for consultation. Aragua denied the existence of the train.
“The Aragua train is a fiction created by the international media to create a label that does not exist,” he said.
With this in mind, President Gabriel Boric expressed: “The irresponsible statements of the Venezuelan president, ignoring the existence of the Aragua train, They worry and develop severe shame For those affected by this system.”
“Furthermore, they demonstrate a lack of commitment to the necessary international cooperation on security matters, which cannot be justified or tolerated,” he added.
Venezuela’s Attorney General Saab responded that the Aragua train had been “totally dismantled.”
Adding to the controversy was the case of Ojeda, a former Venezuelan resistance fighter who was kidnapped and murdered in Chile.
Initially, Venezuelan prosecutor Derek William Sapp expressed his willingness to cooperate in the “immediate” discovery and arrest of Ojeda’s alleged involvement in the crime while still in Venezuela.
But Saab’s suggestion that Chilean intelligence agents may have played a role in the crime has reignited tensions between the two countries.
“When insulted, or belittled, or questioned We have to respond very clearly and decisively to the institutions of our country, as I do, as our president has done,” Poric said this Thursday.
The Chilean government has also accused the Venezuelan government of not cooperating with the region’s security at other times.
For example, one of the men responsible for the murder of Lt. Emmanuel Sánchez Soto in Santiago was a Venezuelan citizen who received an expulsion order from Chile.
According to officials, several evacuation orders were not implemented “Weak” cooperation from Caracas.
Anyway, for now The Chilean government cannot cut ties with Venezuela.
Who is Ronald Ojeda?
The body of Ronald Ojeda, who was abducted by men posing as police officers in Chile on February 21, was found ten days later in a 1.4-meter-deep ditch and under a cement barricade in Santiago.
Ojeda was not a high profile person, but he was known during the time of the Venezuelan authorities He was arrested in 2017 Along with three other soldiers allegedly involved in “conspiratorial intentions and planning terrorist activities”.
All four were charged with sedition, sedition and sedition Treason
Ojeda He escaped from prison He claimed he was tortured during a transfer in November 2017.
The Chilean government granted him political asylum in 2023.
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