Venezuelan Ex-Political Prisoner Found Dead in Chile, Fueling Suspicions of Maduro Regime Killing on Foreign Soil
FEDERICO PARRA/AFP via Getty Images
Ronald Ojeda, a Venezuelan dissident living in Chile wanted by the socialist Maduro regime, was found dead and buried over the weekend after being reportedly kidnapped on February 21.
Chilean officials pledged to investigate Ojeda's death, as well as continuing investigations that started after his kidnapping, to determine if the Venezuelan socialist regime had any involvement in Ojeda's death.
Officials announced on Friday evening that Ojeda's body was found inside a suitcase buried under a cement structure in the Maipú commune, located in the Santiago metropolitan region.
According to prosecutor Héctor Barros, Ojeda is believed to have been dead for seven to ten days by the time of his discovery which, he explained, “also coincides with the date on which the kidnapping occurred.”
“The murder of Ronald Ojeda is the most serious outcome that his kidnapping could have had and unfortunately it is the one we are facing. We express our condolences to his family and loved ones,” Chilean Security Minister Carolina Tohá wrote on social media.
“We will continue to support the investigation being carried out by Chile's Prosecutor's Office so that this crime is fully clarified and punished with the utmost severity,” she continued. “The fight against this criminality is an absolute priority for our government and must be a State task.”
Local authorities arrested a 17-year-old Venezuelan for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Ojeda, and announced they had identified two more subjects, who remained at large at press time.
Chilean newspaper El Mercurio reported on Monday that the suspects may be linked to the Tren de Aragua (Aragua Train), a Venezuelan transnational criminal organization with active cells spread across several countries of the region, including the United States.
The Aragua Train, founded in 2012, is suspected to have grown under the tacit “blessing” of the Maduro regime. El Mercurio noted that the perpetrators of the crime “took care” when kidnapping and murdering Ojeda, as his body reportedly carried no overt gunshot wounds and police did not find any footprints or bullets they could trace back to a killer.
Ojeda, 32, was a former lieutenant in Venezuela's military. The Maduro regime imprisoned him in 2017 on charges of rebellion and treason. He escaped prison and fled to Chile in November 2017, reportedly receiving asylum status from the Chilean government in December 2023.
In January, the Maduro regime accused Ojeda of being part of “Operation White Bracelet,” a purported plot that the socialist regime claims sought to assassinate Maduro and other high-ranking members of his regime, as well as attack several military units across Venezuela. The Maduro regime claims that 33 former and current members of the military are involved in the alleged plot.
A group of individuals claiming to be officials from Chile’s immigration police, the PDI, reportedly abducted Ojeda on February 21. CCTV footage published by Chilean media shows a group of men wearing Chilean police uniforms arriving at Ojeda's apartment, dragging him out barefoot and in his underwear. Ojeda's body was found ten days later.
#22Feb #RonaldOjeda #Chile
Así fue sacado de su domicilio en Chile el exmilitar venezolano Ronald Ojeda. Las imágenes fueron obtenidas por el medio @meganoticiascl – @VPITV pic.twitter.com/Bp6AbwaN9s— Reporte Ya (@ReporteYa) February 22, 2024
Last week, prior to the discovery of Ojeda's body, journalists asked Security Minister Tohá about the possibility of the Maduro regime's participation in the dissident's kidnapping. Tohá described the possibility as “unprecedented and extremely serious,” but indicated that it was one of the “many” possibilities the Chilean Prosecutor's Office is investigating.
“It would be extremely serious, unprecedented,” Tohá said then. “In the course of this time, where several times it has been said that this type of things have happened, the truth is that at the time of looking at it, they have not happened.”
“It would be an unprecedented and extremely serious situation, unprecedented with respect to the relations between Latin American countries,” she continued.
Top socialist regime henchman and suspected drug lord Diosdado Cabello said last week that the Maduro regime has “nothing to do with” Ojeda's kidnapping.
“Venezuela has nothing to do with that kidnapping, nothing, fix your problem there in Chile,” Cabello said. “Keep on giving protection to mafiosi, the mafia itself will charge you.”
The Venezuelan “opposition” Unitary Platform coalition demanded on Saturday that the Chilean government punish those responsible for Ojeda's death. Some “opposition” parties, such as the socialist Popular Will (VP), accused the Maduro regime of being behind the kidnapping and murder of the Venezuelan dissident.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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