Who is Ronald Ojeda Moreno, the former Venezuelan soldier kidnapped in Chile who rose up against Maduro

In the early hours of this Wednesday, four subjects disguised in Investigative Police (PDI) clothing from Pepper They entered Ronald Ojeda Moreno’s house, located in Santiago, and took him away. The matter, which could be a case more related to insecurity, began to have political connotations when the origin of the victim became known. He is a well-known former Venezuelan military man who rebelled against the Venezuelan regime. Nicolás Maduro and that he was a refugee in Chile, so it is feared that his kidnapping was carried out by infiltrated Venezuelan agents.

According to the newspaper La Tercera, a woman related to Ojeda I call Carabiniers at 3:15 am to report the kidnapping of the Lieutenant Colonel.

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When the police went to the victim’s apartment, they were able to see from the security cameras that four people dressed in PDI clothing entered Ojeda’s house and forcibly removed him from the place, La Tercera said.

The first thing he did Carabiniers was discovered in PI if they maintained any procedure related Ojeda. They replied that there was “no procedure in this place.” Then it became clear to the police that it was a kidnapping on what the criminals posed as detectiveshe then reported the matter to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The Public Ministry opened an investigation, which remains secret.

Now, one of the lines of investigation is that the reason for the kidnapping for hire may be politically motivated.

The first person to give public warning about the kidnapping was Ivan Simonovis, a former Venezuelan political prisoner (2004-2019) who now lives in Miami. This Wednesday morning, he posted on his account on the social network Ronald Ojeda Moreno was kidnapped by Chavista agents from the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) that infiltrated Chile.

In an illegal operation, Alexander Granko plans to kidnap a Venezuelan officer in Chile.
This morning, DGCIM officials posed as Chilean immigration officials and kidnapped Lieutenant Ronald Ojeda Moreno. His whereabouts are unknown. pic.twitter.com/mjjDvqPS4x

-Iván Simonovis (@Simonovis) February 21, 2024

Subsequently, several sectors of Chilean politics condemned the incident and pressured the Government of Gabriel Boric to prioritize the issue.

The president of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, Tomás De Rementeriasaid that he will ask “that the authorities of the intelligence agencies be summoned to see the information they have (…) and to find out if the Venezuelan Government was asked if, in fact, this was happening”.

From the opposition, the deputy of Republican party Luis Fernando Sánchez highlighted that the complaint is “very serious not only due to the kidnapping of a person, but also due to the possible participation of agents of the Venezuelan dictatorship operating freely in Pepper”.

On Wednesday night, after a emergency meeting at La Moneda Palacethe deputy minister of the Interior, Manuel Monsalveconfirmed the kidnapping of Ojeda and said border security was being strengthened to prevent him from being removed from the country.

“He Government asked the police what strengthen border controlsboth to the Carabineros of Chile, in charge of border control, and to the Investigative Police, responsible for immigration control, and it was requested raise an Interpo alertl, a question that has already been asked”, he expressed Monsalvé.

Monsalve added that the Ministry of Defense requested to “activate and reinforce” 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 zone. regions of Arica, Tarapacá and Antofagasta.

In Venezuela, until this Thursday there was no statement from the Government regarding the case of Ojeda.

The lieutenant colonel Ronald Ojeda Moreno He was arrested on April 19, 2017 along with three other soldiers for alleged involvement in acts with “conspiratorial purposes and planning terrorist actions”.

They were part of the Movement for Freedom and Democracywho signed a document in which They ignore President Nicolás Maduro as commander-in-chief of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) of Venezuela.

All were accused of the crimes of rebellion, instigation of rebellion, mutiny and treason.

On November 30, 2017, Ojeda escaped during a transfer. O Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) I carried him along with eight other soldiers trapped in the Ramo Verde Prison to another prison establishment. Almost everyone escaped, except for another prisoner who died on the spot in a confrontation, the Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional reported at the time.

Once free, Ojeda He reported that he had been tortured while in prison.

In 2019, the government of Mature demoted him and expelled him from the military along with 24 other officers.

Somehow, Ojeda managed to leave Venezuela and ended up in Chile.

In November 2022, He demonstrated on his knees and with a bag over his head compared to Palace of the Moed in Santiago to condemn the dialogue between Chavismo and the opposition and demand the release of political prisoners.

Ronald Ojeda Moreno in protest in front of La Moneda Palace, in Santiago.

According to La Tercera, in 2018 Ojeda He began to process his political refuge in Pepperuntil in November 2023 his passport was handed over to him as refugee.

On January 24th, the Ministry of Defense of the Venezuela published a statement informing about the demotion of 33 former soldiers, who were accused of treason for participating in Operation White Bracelet, which allegedly contemplated an attack on military installations in Táchira and an attack on the governor of that state, Freddy Bernal. On the list was the name of Ronald Ojeda Moreno.

The Vice Minister of the Interior, Manuel Monsalvesaid on Thursday that many increased hypothesis about the case, and that the Government is responsible for all of them.

One of these hypotheses is that reported by opponents of Maturethat directly accuse Venezuelan infiltrated agents of DGCIM for the kidnapping of Ojeda and they even guarantee that This would already be in Venezuelaalthough so far there is no evidence of this.

The Chilean newspaper El Mercurio reported that the representative in Pepper of the party Sell ​​Venezuelaof opposition leader María Corina Machado, noted that “We are facing an extraction operation from the Nicolás Maduro regime here in Chile”. He added that these types of operations are carried out by a specialized group.

This Thursday, Ivan Simonovis He spoke to the Infobae portal and presented another hypothesis. He said the regime Mature could have hired an organized crime gang like Aragua Train to carry out the kidnapping, but without the mission of taking him to Venezuela. In this way, he indicated simovisthe chavista government he shakes his hands and can say that he has no knowledge of what is happening in Pepper.

A third hypothesis, according to El Mercurio, has to do with the organized crime without political motivations. This is due to the high level of sophistication that the perpetrators of the crime achieved to enter the building disguised as law enforcement agents. PI.

El Mercurio states that Ojeda He was a sheltered person, who constantly changed his address and telephone number. Furthermore, he apparently suspected that he was being sought.

However, this third hypothesis loses weight as the hours pass because no ransom demand was communicated to the family of Ojeda.

Source: Elcomercio