SANTIAGO – The investigation into the 2024 kidnapping and murder of Venezuelan dissident Ronald Ojeda in Chile has moved closer to Venezuela's political leadership after the prosecutor leading the case publicly alleged that Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello was involved in negotiating and paying for the operation.
Metropolitan South Regional Prosecutor Héctor Barros made the allegation on August 28, as two key suspects in the case arrived in Chile following extradition proceedings. Barros said investigators continue to believe the killing was politically motivated and commissioned from Venezuela.
According to Barros, investigators have evidence indicating that at least half of the agreed payment for the operation was initially disbursed and retained by senior members of the criminal organization. He alleged that Cabello was responsible for the negotiation and was behind the payment.
These remain allegations by Chilean prosecutors. Cabello has not been convicted or formally found responsible by a court for Ojeda's murder, and publicly available evidence has not established a direct communication or financial trail between him and Tren de Aragua leaders.
Ojeda, a 32-year-old former Venezuelan army lieutenant who had been granted political asylum in Chile, was abducted from his apartment in Santiago on February 21, 2024. Men posing as Chilean police officers removed him from the residence in front of his family. His body was discovered nine days later buried beneath concrete in Maipú.
Chilean authorities have linked the operation to Los Piratas de Aragua, a faction associated with the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua. Prosecutors have long argued that the circumstances do not resemble an ordinary kidnapping for ransom because Ojeda's family received no ransom demand or extortion calls.
The case against Cabello currently relies heavily on testimony gathered during the criminal investigation.
An investigation published by ProPublica in July reported that three people connected to the case implicated Cabello. One confessed kidnapper alleged that Cabello ordered the kidnapping and paid Tren de Aragua's top leadership. Another alleged gang member testified that he had been told the operation was ordered by the Venezuelan government, planned by Tren de Aragua leaders and executed by members operating in Chile.
However, ProPublica also reported an important limitation in the evidence: authorities said they did not have other evidence directly connecting Cabello to the crime, such as communications between him and the gang's leadership.
That distinction is important as the investigation moves toward increasingly serious allegations against senior Venezuelan officials.
The case gained new momentum Friday with the arrival in Chile of Rafael Gámez Salas, known as “El Turko,” following his extradition from the United States, and Alfredo Carrillo Ortiz, known as “El Gocho,” who was extradited from Colombia. Both were subsequently placed in preventive detention.
Chilean prosecutors consider Gámez one of the principal organizers of the operation. His return could give investigators an opportunity to obtain additional evidence concerning who ordered and financed Ojeda's kidnapping and killing, although there is no guarantee that his extradition will produce evidence against Cabello.
The extraditions also demonstrate that Chile has successfully pursued suspects in the Ojeda investigation beyond its borders. Earlier proceedings involved Edgar Javier Benítez Rubio, accused of providing vehicles used by Los Piratas de Aragua and linked to the Ojeda case.
The crucial question is whether the investigation could eventually result in Chile seeking Cabello himself.
On Tuesday, September 1, Barros went further, saying that if Cabello were currently in Chile, he would face an arrest order. The prosecutor said Chile intends to pursue everyone investigators determine bears responsibility for the crime, while acknowledging that cooperation with Venezuela remains difficult.
That does not mean an extradition request against Cabello currently exists. Curaçao Chronicle found no confirmation that Chile has obtained an extradition order or that INTERPOL has issued a Red Notice against him in connection with the Ojeda case.
Even if Chile eventually obtains an arrest warrant and requests his extradition, securing his surrender directly from Venezuela would face major legal and political obstacles.
Article 69 of Venezuela's Constitution prohibits the extradition of Venezuelan nationals. Cabello is Venezuelan, making extradition from Venezuela highly unlikely even before considering his position within the country's political leadership.
A Chilean arrest warrant could nevertheless become more consequential if Cabello traveled outside Venezuela.
Chile could seek international cooperation to locate and provisionally detain him in another jurisdiction pending an extradition proceeding. An INTERPOL Red Notice could potentially form part of such efforts, although issuance would be subject to INTERPOL's rules.
Importantly, a Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant. INTERPOL describes it as a request to police forces worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a wanted person pending extradition or similar proceedings. Each country determines under its own laws whether it will act on the notice.
INTERPOL itself also does not handle extraditions; those are matters between national authorities.
That means the original claim that Cabello could simply be “extradited to Chile” requires qualification. Chile could eventually seek his arrest and extradition if prosecutors obtain the necessary judicial authorization, but there is no confirmed extradition order against him in the Ojeda case at present.
The investigation may also reach beyond Cabello. Barros said Tuesday that it would be difficult to believe that Nicolás Maduro was unaware of an operation of this magnitude, indicating that prosecutors are examining how far the alleged chain of command may have extended. This, too, remains an investigative theory rather than a judicial finding.
For now, the strongest new development is therefore not an imminent extradition of Cabello. It is that the Chilean prosecutor leading the Ojeda investigation is publicly and explicitly alleging that one of Venezuela's most powerful officials negotiated and financed the operation.
Whether prosecutors can turn that allegation into evidence sufficient for formal judicial action against Cabello is now one of the most consequential questions in the Ronald Ojeda case.