The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, announced this Thursday (6) the sending of a note of protest to Venezuela for the statements made by his attorney general, Chavista Tarek William Saab, who this Wednesday (5) pointed out the services Chilean intelligence officers as allegedly responsible for the murder of the former military officer opposing Nicolás Maduro, Ronald Ojeda, in February, in Santiago.
“I instructed the chancellor to present a note of protest. Chile is a serious country, where institutions work, where there is separation of powers, where the Public Ministry is carrying out a serious and responsible investigation”, said the Chilean president in statements to journalists.
Boric said that “the Venezuelan prosecutor’s comments effectively show that there is no adequate will to resolve a case that is tremendously complex” and assured that he will adopt “all measures within our power” to find those responsible for the crime.
“When our country’s institutions are insulted, denigrated or questioned, what we have to do is act very clearly and firmly”, said the president, who, however, rejected the breaking of diplomatic relations.
Ojeda, an opponent of the Maduro regime and a political asylum seeker in Chile, was kidnapped on February 21 in Santiago and his remains were found ten days later in a city on the outskirts of the capital, buried under a cement block.
In April, the Chilean Prosecutor’s Office associated the crime with the Tren de Aragua criminal gang, born in a Venezuelan prison and spread across Chile, Peru, Colombia and Bolivia, and requested the support of the Venezuelan authorities to clarify the facts. Organizations accuse the Chavista regime of having relations with the criminal group.
So far, there is only one young Venezuelan detained in Chile, but there are two other suspects with arrest warrants, who Chilean authorities believe are in Venezuela.
Tarek William Saab said this Wednesday that Ojeda’s crime was an operation to “obscure” relations between the two countries, in which Chilean and foreign intelligence agencies “with spurious interests” participated, while rejecting that the two suspects will be extradited to Chile if arrested.
The case has been generating friction between the two countries for months and accusations of a lack of cooperation on the part of Chile with Venezuela.
Boric has already summoned his ambassador in Caracas, Jaime Gazmuri, for consultations on April 11, who finally resumed his diplomatic duties a few days later.
“The important thing is that the truth is known and that there is justice. In this regard, I fully trust Chilean institutions”, added Boric.
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