Chile finalizes steps to conclude extradition of Maickel Villegas
The government of Chile is finalizing the efforts to conclude the extradition from Costa Rica of Venezuelan Maikel Villegas Rodríguezthe main suspect in the murder of former military man Ronald Ojeda, a dissident of Nicolás Maduro’s government who lived in asylum in Chile.
«The flight on which he will arrive (to Santiago) is not confirmed, but I can confirm that we are carrying out an operation to conclude that extradition«said the Chilean Foreign Minister, Alberto van Klaveren, at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile thanked the Costa Rican government for its cooperation in efforts to facilitate the extradition ordered last September by the Criminal Court of the Central American country.
«We hope that the extradited person arrives in Santiago shortly so that he appears at a hearing and responds to Justice,” said Van Klaveren, who accompanies the Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, at the summit of the G20 heads of state that concludes this Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro.
How was the arrest of Maikel Villegas Rodríguez?
Villegas was arrested last July when he crossed the border between Panama and Costa Rica on a bus heading to Nicaragua.
The Venezuelan was charged in absentia for kidnapping with homicide of former military officer Ronald Ojedawhich occurred last February in Santiago and shocked the country.
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 April, the Chilean Prosecutor’s Office linked the crime to the transnational criminal gang Tren de Araguaformed in a Venezuelan prison and spread throughout Chile, Peru, Colombia and Bolivia, and asked the Venezuelan authorities for support to clarify the facts.
The case caused friction between Chile and Venezuela and accusations of lack of cooperation from Santiago towards Caracas.
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