The Government of Chile acknowledged this Thursday
that "it is open to all hypotheses"
regarding
the kidnapping of a retired military officer
of Venezuelan nationality in Santiago and confirmed that it has maintained "contacts" with the Venezuelan authorities.
The Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, explained at a press conference that the contacts
have been both "at the diplomatic level
", through the Chilean ambassador in Caracas, and "at the police level from the Chilean Investigative Police (PDI) with the Venezuelan police.
Despite acknowledging that at the moment no hypothesis has been ruled out,
including a Venezuelan counterintelligence operation
, Monsalve called for caution and assured that "very premature conclusions have been reached by different actors."
"There are many hypotheses here. The hypothesis that matters is the one that is finally validated by the Public Ministry and the prosecutor in charge of the investigation," stressed the undersecretary after participating in a virtual meeting with the Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, and the ministers of the Interior. , Foreign Relations and Justice.
According to information released by the local press,
the victim is former military man Ronald Ojeda Moreno
, who was allegedly kidnapped early Wednesday morning at his home in Santiago by a group of individuals who posed as Chilean police officers.
The former military man had been living in Chile for a long time and
the local press claims that he did so as a political refugee
, information that has not been confirmed by the Chilean Government.
Ojeda's name appears on the list released at the end of January by the Venezuelan Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino,
which includes 33 soldiers demoted and expelled from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces
(FANB) "involved in conspiracies" against the Venezuelan Government. which included the assassination of President Nicolás Maduro.
The Venezuelan opponent Leopoldo López took aim at Maduro.
Photo EFE
The Chilean Executive, which asked to raise an alert to Interpol and reinforce border control in the north, announced this Thursday that it will file a complaint in the case to, according to Monsalve, "give a political signal that the Government is interested in ensuring that
these cases are not remain unpunished"
and "become part of the proceedings to clarify this type of crimes."
In Caracas
Voluntad Popular (VP), the party of Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López, condemned the alleged kidnapping of a retired military officer.
"We alert the international community about the disappearance of retired Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Ojeda in Chilean territory
by alleged Venezuelan military officials,"
said VP in his account on X, where he asked the Chilean State to provide answers about the Venezuelan's situation and "ensure his physical integrity."
The alleged kidnapping was reported in a brief note from the Special Anti-Kidnapping Police Investigation Brigade (BIPE) of the Investigative Police (PDI) of Chile, which indicated that it cannot provide "further information" because the investigation "was decreed secret."
"If the news is confirmed,
we would be talking about the use of the sovereign territory of other States for espionage practices
and aggression against Venezuelan refugees who have escaped from a torturing and repressive regime," VP considered.
"For years we have denounced that Chavismo is a danger to the security of the continent. The disappearance of Lieutenant Colonel Ojeda
takes this situation to another level,
which endangers Venezuelan dissidents even outside the national territory," the political group continued.
The Chilean Undersecretary of the Interior explained that the Ministry of Defense requested to "activate and strengthen" the border controls carried out by institutions such as the Maritime Police in the ports, the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC) in the airports, and the Armed Forces in the northern regions of Arica, Tarapacá and Antofagasta.
The authority recalled that the BIPE of the Investigative Police is in charge of
"carrying out the proceedings to clarify this case"
and insisted that the investigation was declared "secret" by the Prosecutor's Office, so "it is impossible to provide details."
Source: AFP and EFE
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