A 17-year-old Venezuelan boy is the first to be convicted of the murder of Ronald Ojeda in Chile.

This Tuesday, the Chilean justice system sentenced a 17-year-old Venezuelan youth arrested for the murder of former military officer Ronald Ojedawhich occurred in February in Santiago, in the first conviction for this controversial case that shocked the country.

Prosecutor Alex Cortez explained that this result is the conclusion of an abbreviated trial “agreed upon with the victim’s family,” and that the accused “did not have a previous criminal record.”

The young man, arrested in March and detained since May in a juvenile center, will serve the first two years in a closed regime, while the other three will be in a semi-closed regime, both under a social reintegration program.

“Obtaining this first conviction, even if it is in an abbreviated procedure and in accordance with the rules for minors, is for the family of Ronald Ojeda the beginning of obtaining some justice in our country, after the horrendous crime suffered by them,” he said. the defense lawyer, Juan Carlos Manríquez.

At the time of his arrest, the Prosecutor’s Office revealed that the minor’s participation in the murder of Ronald Ojeda was related to “providing cover” and “subsequently moving to the place where the victim and the false police officers changed vehicles.” on the North Coast.

Equipment @ECOH_FiscaliaRM @FiscaliadeChile obtained a 5-year sentence for the adolescent accused for kidnapping with homicide of Ronald Ojeda, who will serve in accordance with the provisions of the law adolescent criminal responsibility with 2 years in a closed regime and 3 years in a semi-closed regime.

— ECOH_Fiscalia_RM (@ECOH_FiscaliaRM) October 1, 2024

Main suspect in the murder of Ronald Ojeda is awaiting extradition

The main suspect in the crime, Maickel Villegas, arrested in Costa Rica in July, awaits extradition to Chile from the Central American country. He was captured while crossing the Costa Rican border with Panama on a bus heading to Nicaragua.

“This extradition should take place in the coming months, and in this way this defendant will serve his preventive detention in Chile, pending the respective trial,” Cortez said.

A dissident from the government of Nicolás Maduro and political asylum in Chile, Ojeda was kidnapped on February 21 at his home in Santiago and his remains were found ten days later in a peripheral town of the capital, buried under a cement block.

In addition to Villegas and the minor already convicted, the Chilean justice system issued an arrest warrant against another Venezuelan citizen, Walter de Jesús Rodríguez Pérez, whose whereabouts remain unknown.

“We hope that a series of pending arrest warrants for other defendants already identified in this investigation will be completed,” added the prosecutor.

In April, the Chilean Prosecutor’s Office linked the crime to the transnational criminal gang the Tren de Aragua, formed in a Venezuelan prison and spread throughout Chile, Peru, Colombia and Bolivia, and requested support from the Venezuelan authorities to clarify the facts.

The case caused friction between Chile and Venezuela and accusations of lack of cooperation from Santiago towards Caracas.