Chile investigates the kidnapping of a former Venezuelan soldier in asylum in Santiago and Caracas points to Chavismo

Chile’s government acknowledged this on Thursday that “is open to all hypotheses” From the kidnapping of a retired soldier of Venezuelan nationality in Santiago and confirmed that he had maintained “contacts” with the Venezuelan authorities.

The Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, explained in a press conference that the contacts they were both” at the diplomatic level“, through the Chilean ambassador in Caracas, as well as “at the police level the Chilean Investigative Police (PDI) with the Venezuelan police”.

While recognizing that no hypothesis has been ruled out at the moment, including a Venezuelan counterintelligence operationMonsalve urged caution and assured that “several actors have reached very premature conclusions”.

“There are many hypotheses here. The hypothesis that matters is the one that will finally be validated by the Public Prosecutor and the public prosecutor in charge of the investigation”, underlined the undersecretary after participating in a virtual meeting with the Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, and Ministers of the Interior, Foreign Affairs and Justice.

According to information published by the local press, The victim is former soldier Ronald Ojeda Morenowho was allegedly kidnapped early Wednesday morning from his home in Santiago by a group of individuals posing as Chilean police officers.

The former military man had lived in Chile for a long time and The local press assures that he did so as a political refugeeinformation 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 Defense Minister, Vladimir Padrino, which includes 33 soldiers demoted and expelled from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) “involved in conspiracies” against the Venezuelan government, including the assassination of President Nicolás Maduro.

The Chilean executive, which has asked to raise the alarm to Interpol and to strengthen border control in the north, announced Thursday that it will file a complaint in the case to, according to Monsalve, “give a political signal that the government is interested to These cases do not go unpunished.” and “become part of efforts to clarify these types of crimes.”

In Caracas

Voluntad Popular (VP), the party of Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López, has condemned the alleged kidnapping of a retired military officer.

“We alert the international community of 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 on the Venezuelan’s situation and to “guarantee his physical integrity”.

The alleged kidnapping was reported in a brief note from the Special Anti-Kidnapping Police Brigade (BIPE) of the Investigative Police (PDI) of Chile, in which it specified that it could not provide “further information” because the investigation “has been decreed secret”.

“If the news is confirmed, There would be talk of using the sovereign territory of other states for espionage practices and aggression against Venezuelan refugees who fled a torturer and repressive regime,” considered VP.

“For years we have been denouncing that Chavismo is a danger to the security of the continent. The disappearance of Lieutenant Colonel Ojeda take this situation to another level, this puts Venezuelan dissidents in danger even outside the national territory,” the political group continued.

The Chilean undersecretary of the Interior explained that the Ministry of Defense has asked to “activate and strengthen” border controls carried out by institutions such as the Maritime Police in ports, the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC) in 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 responsible for this “conduct 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”.