Chile Says Death of Venezuelan Ex-Political Prisoner May ‘Signal’ that Maduro Can Kill Dissidents Abroad

The Chilean Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed on Monday that the Tren de Aragua (Aragua Train), a Venezuelan transnational criminal organization, was involved in the killing of Venezuelan dissident Ronald Ojeda.

Ojeda was a former lieutenant in the Venezuelan military imprisoned by the socialist regime of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on rebellion and treason charges in 2017. After escaping prison in November 2017, the slain dissident had been living in exile in Chile, where he received asylum status from the government in December 2023.

On February 21, a group of unidentified men pretending to be members of Chile’s immigration police abducted Ojeda, dragging him out of his apartment barefoot and in his underwear, according to security footage obtained by authorities. On March 1, Chilean officials found Ojeda’s body inside a suitcase buried under a cement structure in the Maipú commune, located in the Santiago metropolitan area.

At the time of the discovery, officials estimated that Ojeda had been dead between seven to ten days, which “coincided” with the date of his abduction.

“We have carried out a series of proceedings to establish the participation of each of the accused, with the complexities that this means in a context of transnational organized crime, linked mainly to the Aragua Train, which has been committing various crimes such as kidnapping,” Chilean prosecutor Héctor Barros, who is in charge of the case, told Chilean media.

Preliminary reports ruled Ojeda’s cause of death as “positional mechanical asphyxia,” as the body was found with no gunshot wounds.

“He was asphyxiated and that is the cause of death that we have established for now,” Barros said, adding that the Chilean Forensic Medical Service will issue a formal report on his death in the next few days.

The Aragua Train, founded in 2012, grew from a small gang in Aragua, Venezuela, to a full-fledged international criminal syndicate with active cells in Chile and other countries in the region. In the United States, FBI officials suspect that it has brokered an alliance with El Salvador’s MS-13 gang. Authorities have reported Aragua Train activity in metropolitan areas such as New York City. It is largely believed that the Aragua Train grew with the implicit approval of the Maduro regime.

National public prosecutor Ángel Valencia stated on Monday that Chilean authorities have not ruled out the possible involvement of the Maduro regime in Ojeda’s death, given his status as a political dissident and escaped political prisoner.

“Consequently, they say that there may have been behind his murder the purpose of sending a signal to the dissidents, to the people who have sought refuge outside the country,” Valencia said, “that the hand of those who may persecute them may be very long and go beyond the borders of their own nation. That is a version that has been sustained and that we cannot discard.”

Although Maduro regime officials have denied any involvement in the abduction and murder of Ojeda, members of the Venezuelan opposition have directly accused the authoritarian regime of being behind the death of the former military dissident.

Weeks before Ojeda’s disappearance, the Maduro regime accused Ojeda and some 30 other current and former members of the military of being involved in “Operation White Bracelet,” a purported plan to assassinate Maduro himself and his henchmen.

In remarks given on Monday to a local radio station, Prosecutor Valencia said that officials from his office kept silent over the case because there was “no doubt that it was an atypical kidnapping” due to the resources employed and because the victim was a former Venezuelan military officer and dissident.

“There was no doubt that it was a matter that was relevant for the Chilean State,” Valencia said. 

“The modus operandi or the level of logistical development, the number of resources allocated, etc. at this point we are no longer surprised, we are concerned,” he continued. “We have seen the way they work and most probably the amount of resources allocated, the number of people involved, the preparation, the follow-up.”

“Whether or not this was planned from outside, we already know that when there is a gang that responds to the characteristics of transnational organized crime it is probable that it acts according to orders given by someone who is not inside Chile,” Valencia said. “But everything has to be investigated.”

Chilean lawyer Juan Carlos Manríquez, who is representing Ojeda’s family, told local media that he has “no doubts” that the dissident’s abduction and murder were ordered.

“I have no doubt that this was a kidnapping and a contract crime. This alleged criminal organization would be carrying out a business assignment from someone who did have an interest in him,” Manríquez said. “But in addition to that, in this case there is no indication that Ronald Ojeda was linked to any illicit activity.”

Chilean far-left President Gabriel Boric has not publicly commented on the case at press time. Security Minister Carolina Tohá, in response to criticism from local opposition politicians over Boric’s lack of public statements on the matter, asserted on Tuesday that Boric acts through his government.

“He acts through the ministries that work for his administration; he acts through the public policies promoted by those ministries and the government of President Gabriel Boric,” Tohá said. “In this case, [he] has acted with full force from day one and will continue to do so until this is clarified and punished.”

Tohá claimed Boric had weighed in silently on the matter by “reinforcing and supporting the work of the police and the Prosecutor’s Office … [and] making contact with people who are in similar situations to that of the victim and who may feel frightened and require protection.”

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.