The footage from security cameras inside an apartment building in Chile depict what looks like a straightforward arrest: As the New York Times reports, it shows three men in police uniform escorting their handcuffed prisoner away in the middle of the night. But Chilean authorities say it's not what it appears to be: They say the men are not police officers but disguised members of a Venezuelan crime group known as Tren de Aragua. And the body of the man seen in handcuffs, Ronald Ojeda, was found days later, stuffed inside a suitcase buried in cement.
The reason the 2024 murder remains in the news is because investigators in Chile think it was orchestrated by the government of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Ojeda was a former Venezuelan army officer linked to failed plots to overthrow Maduro, and he had fled his own country. Last month, Chilean Interior Minister Carolina Toha cited "substantial evidence" tying Maduro's government to the murder, reports Reuters. So far, nearly 20 alleged gang members have been arrested, and more details should surface during their upcoming trials.
Maduro has long used aggressive tactics against his political enemies at home. "But the murder in Chile suggests the Venezuelan leader has also adopted the tactics of his close ally, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, to reach into foreign nations to assassinate political rivals," per the Times. The Maduro government denies the allegations. Meanwhile, Toha thinks the existence of the surveillance video and the subsequent discovery of Ojeda's body, thanks to a tip, was no accident. "Ojeda could have been killed in a much simpler, much less conspicuous way," she said—but his killers wanted to send a message. (More Venezuela stories.)
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