Ronald Leandro Ojeda Moreno: The Boric government has reported the kidnapping of Ronald Ojeda, a former Venezuelan military officer, in Santiago.

The government of Gabriel Boric announced this Thursday that it would file a complaint for the kidnapping of Ronald Leandro Ojeda Moreno, 32, a former Venezuelan military officer, in Chilean territory. The Public Ministry is leading a secret investigation to determine the whereabouts of Ojeda, an opponent of Nicolás Maduro’s regime, who was apparently abducted by four hooded men on Wednesday morning in his apartment in the municipality of Independência, in the northern region of Santiago. Was done. According to the first version, the four men presented themselves as officers of the Investigation Police (PDI). Amid a series of hypotheses circulating, including an alleged Venezuelan counter-intelligence operation, Interior Undersecretary Manuel Monsalve reiterated this afternoon that none has been ruled out.

“We always feel that the complaint presented by the government to the Interior Ministry is a very important decision,” Monsalve said. “One, to give a political signal that the government is interested in ensuring that these cases do not go unpunished and, therefore, are cleared. But, also, because the government becomes part of the efforts to clean up these types of crimes.

Chile’s ambassador to Venezuela, Jaime Guzmurri, is managing negotiations with the US Deputy Secretary of State of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry. According to the government spokesperson, Camila Vallejo, because it is a “very serious incident”, contacts have been maintained with Caracas at all levels: through the government, the police and the relevant prosecutor’s offices. As a result of the case, the Chilean executive requested an international alert from Interpol this Wednesday, in addition to protecting both the land, sea and air borders of the country.

President Gabriel Boric is on leave, but he participated electronically in a meeting with members of his Cabinet regarding the deployment. “Clearly, the president considers it a priority,” said Monsalve, who attended the meeting with the chancellor, Alberto Van Cleveren, and the interior minister, Carolina Toha. Camila Vallejo, a government spokeswoman, said the relevant institutions had held several conversations to clarify and cooperate on the investigation process.

This morning several meetings were held in La Moneda to take action on the kidnapping of Ojeda. Justice Minister Luis Cordero and Undersecretary Monsalve met with National Prosecutor Angel Valencia and Prosecutor Hector Barros, who coordinates the Team Against Organized Crime and Homicides (ECOH); Toha and Monsalve also met senior PDI officials. “In an investigation of this nature, coordination with the Public Ministry, which is in charge of the investigation and therefore the proceedings to clarify the possible crime, is very important,” Monsalve said this afternoon.

Ojeda is one of 33 soldiers of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) who were expelled and demoted on January 24. The Defense Ministry of the Nicolás Maduro government published the list in which anti-Chavista activists appeared. Caracas reported that the military was allegedly sanctioned for “engaging in conspiracies”, such as planning “criminal and terrorist” actions to attack the government system, officials and state institutions, even ​That included contemplating the assassination of the President. Statement of the defence. The alleged actions in Venezuela represent “acts of treason against the country”.

In 2017, according to his testimony collected on Twitter (now X), Ojeda was “kidnapped” and “tortured” in Remo Verde military prison, from which he escaped 249 days after his arrest. “The generals and politicians,” he wrote, referring to Maduro and members of his cabinet, “are clowns without morality, tyrants on duty.” The Chilean government has not confirmed whether Ojeda has received political refugee status. , because this is information that cannot be made public by law.

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