The Attorney General of the Republic, Tarek Williams Saab, urged the Chilean authorities to collaborate to clarify the case of Ronald Ojeda. In this sense, he reported the visit of a delegation from the Venezuelan Public Ministry to meet with authorities from the Chilean Attorney General’s Office.
On this point he pointed out that “we want to make it clear that from the first moment we learned that the Prosecutor’s Office investigating the case had requested information from our institution, we began to work to respond.” The Public Ministry of Venezuela “has done its part in responding to the requests for information and identification data requested by the Chilean Prosecutor’s Office. “No one can deny the opposite in this or other cases,” said the prosecutor.
He added that in view of “the seriousness of the events that occurred and the participation in them of alleged Venezuelans, we proceeded to open our own investigation, to facilitate the collection of the information requested by Chile. And to begin the investigations that allow us to find the alleged co-authors of the incident.”
The prosecutor explained that, for this reason, in order to gather information that would allow us to find the whereabouts of those involved who have been identified, “I sent a commission of two directors to Chile, the general director against Common Crimes, which is the one “directs the investigation of this case, and the director of International Affairs, who is in charge of international criminal cooperation.”
However, the delegation was received, literally, by the director of the International Cooperation and Extraditions Unit of the National Prosecutor’s Office of Chile, “who did not say or contribute anything. By not giving us access to the file or allowing us to speak with the prosecutor in the case, the Chilean Prosecutor’s Office showed little interest in the contributions that our institution can provide to clarify the facts and find those involved.”
That is why “we consider that the Chilean Prosecutor’s Office must comply with its commitment to international cooperation as our country does, which since last year responded to more than 80 requests for inter-institutional cooperation and rogatory letters from the Chilean Prosecutor’s Office.” The prosecutor indicated that “we have sent a request for mutual criminal assistance. “Requiring key data to advance in locating those involved who have been identified.”
The prosecutor stated that “Ojeda’s homicide is a false flag operation. An operation that had the objective of clouding relations between Chile and Venezuela, just when a very important rapprochement was taking place. What a coincidence. Venezuela is the most interested in this case being completely clarified. Our directors confirmed to their Chilean counterparts their complete willingness to cooperate.”
“We continue to be at the command of the Chilean Prosecutor’s Office for whatever it needs, but we demand reciprocity. We hope that our request for international criminal assistance will be responded to with the same diligence that we have acted upon Chile’s requests,” he concluded.
