Chilean Interior Ministry Undersecretary Manuel Monsalve reported on Wednesday afternoon that the government had requested an international alert from Interpol, in addition to protecting the country's borders, following the kidnapping of a former Venezuelan military officer that occurred at 3:15. Yesterday evening in his apartment in the municipality of Independencia, in the northern sector of Santiago. According to a video clip that circulated on social media, the incident was carried out by four masked people who, according to the first accounts, impersonated officers in the police investigation.

The former military man has been identified as Ronald Leandro Ojeda Moreno, and it has not been determined how long he spent in Chile. Likewise, the government has not confirmed whether he has political refugee status or not, because there is information, as Monsalvi explained, that cannot be published under the law.

The investigation has been classified as secret, like all kidnapping cases, by both the Public Ministry and the Investigative Police's Anti-Kidnapping Squad (BIPE). “Because many hypotheses have been put forward, the government is also taking responsibility for all possible hypotheses,” the Undersecretary said in a statement provided by La Moneda newspaper after his meeting with the Ministers of Interior, Justice, Carolina Toha, Luis Cordero and Foreign Affairs. Minister Alberto Van Klaveren. One of these hypotheses, published by former Venezuelan Commissioner Ivan Simonovis, now in opposition, refers to an operation organized by Venezuela's General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence.

According to the newspaper third, Ojeda is one of 33 soldiers expelled on January 24, according to Nicolas Maduro's Defense Minister, Vladimir Padrino, of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) accused of conspiracy.

The kidnapping of the former soldier took place on the fourteenth floor of the building where he lives, and was recorded by security cameras. Hours later, in the municipality of Rinca, a car was found that could be linked to the crime, inside which was a jacket, supposedly from the Police Investigation (PDI) and a bulletproof helmet. The investigation is led by Public Prosecutor Hector Barros, who coordinates the Metropolitan Area Organized Crime and Homicide Team (ECOH), a unit created in November due to the unprecedented rise in this type of crime in Chile.

“What matters in these cases is protecting the physical integrity of the final victim and his family. Therefore, we must respect the confidential nature of the investigation decided by the Public Prosecution,” Monsalvi said, cautiously. He explained that on Wednesday morning the government asked the police and the Police Investigation (PDI) to strengthen Border control. He also reported that the Ministry of Defense was asked to strengthen oversight at various points of the border over the maritime police responsible for the ports; to the Civil Aviation Directorate (DGAC), which supervises airports and also to the heads of the armed forces deployed in the regions of Arica, Tarapacá and Antofagasta, in the extreme Northern Chile.

Senator Francisco Chahuan, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that Ojeda's case “constitutes a sensitive situation. We have been in constant contact with the government. It is a fact that must be investigated quickly and with great precision because of the various theses that have been broadcast.”

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