The Chilean Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, reported this Wednesday afternoon that the Government has requested an international alert from Interpol, in addition to the protection of the country's borders, following the kidnapping of a former Venezuelan military officer that occurred at 3:15 p.m. last morning in his apartment in the municipality of Independencia, in the northern sector of Santiago.
According to a video that has been spread on social networks, the incident was carried out by four hooded individuals who, according to the first versions, posed as officials of the Investigative Police.
The former military man has been identified as Ronald Leandro Ojeda Moreno, who has not been specified how long he had been living in Chile.
Likewise, the Government did not confirm whether or not he had the status of political refugee, since it is information, Monsalve said, that by law cannot be made public.
The investigation has been classified as confidential, like all kidnapping cases, by both the Public Ministry and the Anti-Kidnapping Brigade (BIPE) of the Investigative Police.
“As many hypotheses have been raised, the Government also takes charge of all possible hypotheses,” said the undersecretary in a statement offered by La Moneda after holding a meeting with the ministers of the Interior and Justice, Carolina Tohá and Luis Cordero, and Foreign Minister Alberto Van Klaveren.
One of these hypotheses, spread by former Venezuelan commissioner Iván Simonovis, now an opponent, points to an operation orchestrated by the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) of Venezuela.
According to the newspaper
La Tercera,
Ojeda is one of the 33 soldiers who on January 24, as reported by the Minister of Defense of the Government of Nicolás Maduro, Vladimir Padrino, were expelled from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) accused of conspiracy .
The kidnapping of the former military man took place on the 14th floor of the building where he lived and was recorded by security cameras.
Hours later, in the municipality of Renca, a car was located, which could be related to the crime, which inside had a vest, presumably from the Investigative Police (PDI) and a bulletproof helmet.
The investigation is led by prosecutor Héctor Barros, who coordinates the Organized Crime and Homicide Team (ECOH) in the Metropolitan Region, a unit that was created in November due to the unprecedented rise in this type of crime in Chile.
Monsalve, with caution, has said that “in these cases what matters is the protection of the physical integrity of the eventual victim and his family.
Therefore, we must respect the secret nature of the investigation that the Public Ministry has decreed.”
And he specified that it was during the morning of this Wednesday that the Government asked the Carabineros and the Investigative Police (PDI) to reinforce border control.
He also reported that the Ministry of Defense was requested to strengthen controls at different points of the border to the maritime police, in charge of the ports;
to the Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC), which supervises the airports and also to the heads of the Armed Forces who are deployed in the regions of Arica, Tarapacá and Antofagasta, in the extreme north of Chile.
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