South America Can’t Let Venezuela’s Regime Get Away With Murder

South America Can’t Let Venezuela’s Regime Get Away With Murder
Police and forensic investigators work in the area where the body of former Venezuelan military officer Ronald Ojeda was found in Santiago, Chile, March 1, 2024 (AP photo by Esteban Felix).

In February, Ronald Ojeda was kidnapped from his apartment in Santiago, Chile, by armed men impersonating Chilean police. His body was discovered weeks later in a suitcase buried under cement, an obvious attempt by the killers to cover their tracks.

Chilean prosecutors likely have enough evidence to prove that Ojeda’s murder was an extraterritorial assassination carried out on the orders of the Venezuelan government. Ojeda was a former Venezuelan military officer who had been granted political asylum in Chile in 2018, after he fell out with the government of President Nicolas Maduro. While in Chile, he continued to be a vocal critic of the Maduro regime.

Chilean authorities believe the murder plot was hatched in Venezuela and carried out by operatives who may have used loose connections to the Tren de Aragua criminal gang on Maduro’s behalf. One Venezuelan suspect is currently under arrest in Chile, while two others have already fled back to their homeland.

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